Amuse Q1 Operating Profit Falls 90.6% as Last Year's Big Concert Tours Roll Off

A comparison quarter: the tours that made last year did not come back

Amuse Inc. (TSE: 4301), the entertainment group that manages artists and runs concert, stage, music and video businesses, published consolidated results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 — the three months from April 1 to June 30, 2026 — on August 13, 2026, under Japanese GAAP. Operating revenue fell 22.1% to ¥17,649 million, operating profit 90.6% to ¥335 million, ordinary profit 88.1% to ¥420 million and profit attributable to owners of the parent 94.4% to ¥130 million, for earnings of ¥8.05 per share against ¥143.85. The filing lists the shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The filing's explanation is a timing one. The quarter did carry large tours — Masaharu Fukuyama's WE'RE BROS. TOUR 2026 and IVE's world tour SHOW WHAT I AM — but the same months a year earlier had held Southern All Stars' LIVE TOUR 2025, Gen Hoshino's MAD HOPE tour and the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. The company describes the fall in event revenue as a reaction to those productions, compounded by lower sales of the merchandise tied to them. It cites no weakness in demand.

Costs fell by less than half as much as revenue

The arithmetic explains why a 22% revenue fall wiped out nine-tenths of operating profit. Operating costs fell 9.5% to ¥15,971 million; the company attributes its lower operating expenses to reduced production costs on large tours and to expense control. Because they fell far more slowly than revenue, operating gross profit dropped 66.5% to ¥1,677 million and the gross margin on operating revenue narrowed from 22.1% to 9.5%. Selling, general and administrative expenses were trimmed 7.3% to ¥1,341 million, not enough to change the picture, and the operating margin fell from 15.7% to 1.9%.

Below the operating line the direction improved slightly. Non-operating income rose to ¥87 million from ¥24 million, helped by a ¥43 million foreign-exchange gain against a ¥34 million exchange loss a year earlier and by interest and dividends of ¥40 million against ¥12 million, so ordinary profit fell less steeply than operating profit, to ¥420 million. Net profit fell further: last year's quarter had included a ¥76 million gain on the sale of investment securities, while this quarter carried a ¥49 million loss on the sale of fixed assets. Pre-tax profit was ¥370 million, income taxes took ¥229 million and non-controlling interests ¥10 million, leaving ¥130 million for owners of the parent. Comprehensive income was ¥93 million against ¥2,929 million, as unrealised gains on securities declined by ¥82 million after rising ¥463 million a year earlier.

Events swung to a loss; appearances and commercials grew

Amuse reorganised its segments from this quarter, moving new businesses, IT support and customer-service operations out of Event-Related into Other and changing how some corporate costs are allocated; the prior-year segment figures are restated on the new basis. On that basis Event-Related revenue fell 31.3% to ¥10,789 million and the segment swung to a loss of ¥129 million from a profit of ¥2,889 million. Within it, event revenue fell to ¥6,332 million from ¥10,520 million and fan-club and merchandise revenue to ¥4,456 million from ¥5,173 million. Production costs and other operating expenses fell, but not by enough to offset the lost revenue.

Music & Visual revenue slipped 3.1% to ¥4,070 million. Distribution income from the film Kokuho, anime licensing and Blu-ray and DVD sales grew, but royalties linked mainly to Southern All Stars and live-viewing sales of large tours fell. Segment profit dropped 52.1% to ¥348 million, as higher operating expenses at a consolidated subsidiary — chiefly programme-production costs — added to the revenue decline. Appearances & Commercials was the only segment to grow: revenue rose 16.2% to ¥2,320 million on higher appearance fees for artists including Gen Hoshino, BABYMETAL and Masaharu Fukuyama and on more corporate-advertising production work at a subsidiary, but that production work also raised costs, and segment profit fell 13.7% to ¥346 million. The Other businesses posted a smaller loss of ¥229 million against ¥463 million on revenue of ¥469 million.

Cash and deposits down ¥3,473 million over the quarter

Total assets fell 3.0% to ¥60,613 million from ¥62,499 million at March 31, 2026, mainly because cash and deposits declined by ¥3,473 million to ¥23,195 million; securities, inventories, work in progress and other receivables rose. Liabilities fell ¥1,582 million to ¥22,131 million, led by lower income taxes payable (down ¥926 million) and other current liabilities. Net assets eased 0.8% to ¥38,481 million as retained earnings fell ¥205 million, mainly on the dividend payment, and the equity ratio rose from 57.7% to 59.1%. The company prepared no quarterly cash-flow statement.

Guidance and the ¥64 dividend forecast kept — and treasury shares cancelled

Amuse did not change the full-year FY3/2027 forecast it published on May 15, 2026: operating revenue of ¥55,000 million (−21.0%), operating profit of ¥2,000 million (−67.3%), ordinary profit of ¥2,100 million (−66.3%) and profit attributable to owners of ¥1,250 million (−53.6%), or ¥77.09 per share. The first quarter delivered 32.1% of the guided revenue but only 16.8% of the guided operating profit and 10.4% of the guided net profit. The dividend forecast is unchanged at ¥32.00 at the half-year and ¥32.00 at the year-end, an annual ¥64.00 against ¥40.00 for FY3/2026.

As a subsequent event, the board resolved on July 24, 2026 to cancel 935,000 treasury shares, and did so on July 31, leaving 17,688,520 shares in issue. The filing explains that the medium-term plan published on May 21, 2026 caps treasury-share holdings at 5% of shares issued and calls for any excess to be cancelled, in principle, at the end of July each year.

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.