RYODEN Q1 Operating Profit More Than Doubles to ¥2.04 Billion as Data-Center Demand Lifts Sales 23.5%

RYODEN Corporation (TSE: 8084), the Tokyo-based technical trading company that distributes factory-automation equipment, air-conditioning and building systems, and electronic devices, reported consolidated results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 — the three months from April 1 to June 30, 2026 — under Japanese GAAP. Net sales rose 23.5% to ¥61,051 million, operating profit rose 132.8% to ¥2,042 million, ordinary profit rose 117.6% to ¥2,167 million and profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 41.7% to ¥1,424 million. Basic earnings per share were ¥66.13 against ¥46.72 a year earlier, with a diluted figure of ¥65.96 against ¥46.57. Comprehensive income reached ¥2,326 million, against a loss of ¥58 million in the same quarter last year. Management said personnel costs and strategic investment pushed selling and administrative expenses higher across every segment, but that a recovery in factory-automation demand, a large equipment order and a surge in electronics demand — including data-center-related business — beat its own start-of-year plan by a wide margin.

Electronics and factory automation carried the quarter

All four reporting segments grew profit or held their ground except one. Electronics, the largest, lifted sales 23.9% to ¥34,136 million and segment profit 107.1% to ¥1,528 million; the company cited very strong data-center-related demand at home and abroad, a gradual recovery in industrial equipment, firm automotive demand for hybrid and plug-in hybrid applications, and sharply higher overseas sales of Taiwanese solution products and of semiconductors for data-center battery modules in Europe and North America. FA Systems posted the steepest profit increase, with sales up 33.7% to ¥15,144 million and segment profit up 430.4% to ¥441 million from ¥83 million, as machine-tool output rose on semiconductor-related demand and a large switchboard-manufacturer project advanced — enough to offset weaker capital spending by automakers facing U.S. tariffs. Air-Conditioning & Building Systems grew sales 15.5% to ¥9,989 million and profit 50.5% to ¥648 million, helped by heat-countermeasure products and replacement demand for household room air-conditioners ahead of the Top Runner efficiency standards taking effect in fiscal 2027. Only X-Tech went backwards: sales fell 5.5% to ¥1,794 million and the segment's operating loss widened to ¥27 million from ¥8 million, as energy and material costs squeezed the smart-agriculture business and hospital capital spending stayed weak, though the ICT monitoring business won a string of large orders. Unallocated corporate costs of ¥535 million were the bulk of a ¥548 million negative adjustment, against ¥366 million a year earlier. By region, domestic sales were ¥48,000 million, or 78.6% of the total, while overseas sales rose to ¥13,051 million, or 21.4%, from ¥11,800 million and 23.9% — Greater China alone accounted for ¥7,803 million.

A prior-year securities gain explains the narrower net-profit rise

The gap between a 117.6% jump in ordinary profit and a 41.7% rise in net profit sits entirely below the ordinary-profit line, and the earnings statement identifies it precisely. In the year-earlier quarter RYODEN booked an extraordinary gain of ¥605 million on the sale of investment securities against a ¥16 million extraordinary loss on a subsidy repayment, lifting pre-tax profit to ¥1,585 million — 59% above that year's ordinary profit of ¥996 million. This year the equivalent gain was only ¥59 million and there were no extraordinary losses, so pre-tax profit of ¥2,227 million sat just ¥60 million above ordinary profit. Measured on the pre-tax line, the increase was 40.5%, almost exactly the 41.7% recorded at the attributable-profit line; the doubling of operating profit simply never had a comparable below-the-line boost to run against. Tax expense rose to ¥791 million from ¥580 million, an effective rate of 35.5% against 36.6%, and non-controlling interests took ¥11 million against a marginal loss a year earlier. Non-operating items were broadly stable: non-operating income of ¥218 million (interest ¥65 million, dividends ¥125 million) against ¥230 million, and non-operating expenses of ¥93 million against ¥112 million, including ¥24 million of foreign-exchange losses and ¥31 million of foreign withholding tax.

Working capital swelled the balance sheet and cut the equity ratio

Total assets reached ¥168,409 million at June 30, up ¥14,106 million or 9.1% from ¥154,303 million at the March year-end. Cash and deposits fell ¥6,281 million, but notes and accounts receivable including contract assets rose ¥5,017 million, inventories ¥2,435 million and accounts receivable–other ¥7,527 million. Liabilities rose ¥13,308 million to ¥73,078 million, almost all of it a ¥15,210 million increase in notes and accounts payable, partly offset by a ¥185 million decline in income taxes payable. Net assets edged up only ¥798 million to ¥95,331 million: the ¥1,424 million quarterly profit was more than absorbed by ¥1,508 million of dividends paid, leaving a ¥300 million rise in the foreign-currency translation adjustment and a ¥627 million rise in unrealized gains on securities to carry the balance. Because assets grew roughly 9% while equity was close to flat, the equity ratio fell 4.7 points to 56.5% from 61.2%, even though shareholders' equity itself rose to ¥95,087 million from ¥94,420 million and net assets per share improved to ¥4,423.33 from ¥4,380.05. Cash and cash equivalents ended the quarter at ¥27,175 million. Operating cash flow swung to an outflow of ¥2,468 million from an inflow of ¥5,089 million a year earlier, a ¥7,557 million deterioration driven by the ¥7,636 million increase in accounts receivable–other and ¥851 million of tax payments. Investing activities used ¥2,419 million, including a ¥1,551 million prepayment for the acquisition of subsidiary shares and ¥1,087 million of intangible-asset purchases, and financing used ¥1,915 million, mostly ¥1,465 million of dividend payments and ¥236 million of treasury-share buying. The company also flagged a material change in the scope of consolidation during the quarter.

Full-year plan of ¥252 billion in sales, with a two-for-one split ahead

RYODEN left unchanged the guidance it had raised on July 28, and the numbers are ambitious against the quarter just delivered. First-half net sales are forecast at ¥121,700 million, up 19.2%, with operating profit of ¥3,700 million (up 52.1%), ordinary profit of ¥3,800 million (up 42.5%) and attributable profit of ¥2,600 million (up 19.7%), for first-half EPS of ¥120.72. For the full year the company guides to net sales of ¥252,000 million, up 18.4%, operating profit of ¥7,500 million, up 43.0%, ordinary profit of ¥7,500 million, up 30.0%, and attributable profit of ¥6,000 million, up 13.7%. Full-year EPS is stated as ¥139.30 — a figure that already reflects a planned share split; without it, the company says, forecast EPS would be ¥278.59. The first quarter therefore delivered 24.2% of forecast sales but 27.2% of forecast operating profit and 23.7% of forecast attributable profit.

Dividend raised to a pre-split ¥170.00, and treasury shares handed to executives

The dividend forecast was revised from the company's previous announcement, in the same July 28 release that lifted earnings guidance. RYODEN now plans an interim dividend of ¥85.00 per share and a year-end dividend of ¥42.50 per share for the year to March 2027. The two are not directly comparable: effective October 1, 2026 the company will split each common share into two, and the year-end figure is stated on the post-split share count while the interim precedes the split — which is why the earnings release shows no annual total. On an unadjusted, pre-split basis, RYODEN says the year-end dividend would be ¥85.00 and the annual total ¥170.00, against the ¥138.00 paid for the year ended March 2026 (¥68.00 interim plus ¥70.00 year-end). The split announcement, published the same day, also covers a partial amendment to the articles of incorporation and a change to the shareholder-benefit programme. Separately, RYODEN disclosed as a subsequent event that on July 24, 2026 it disposed of 35,000 treasury shares as restricted stock at ¥3,810 per share, a total of ¥133,350,000, allotted to three directors (14,000 shares) and 15 executive officers (21,000 shares). Shares issued stood at 21,612,037 at the quarter-end with treasury stock cut to 55,063 from 115,301, and the weighted-average count for the quarter was 21,511,892. The quarterly consolidated financial statements were not subject to review by a certified public accountant or an audit firm.

JapanStockPulse provides informational content only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures are taken from the company's published earnings short report and may be subject to subsequent revision.