Howtelevision Grows First-Half Operating Profit 15.9%, and Its Unchanged Guidance Implies a ¥279 Million Second-Half Loss

Every line of the first half grew

Howtelevision, Inc. (TSE: 7064), which runs the Gaishishukatsu.com career platform for high-achieving students, published consolidated results for the six months to July 31, 2026 on September 9, 2026 under Japanese GAAP. Revenue rose 17.5% to ¥1,655 million, gross profit 18.7% to ¥1,378 million, operating profit 15.9% to ¥329 million, ordinary profit 14.2% to ¥321 million and profit attributable to owners of the parent 7.5% to ¥189 million. Comprehensive income was ¥192 million, up 9.3%, and earnings per share ¥69.59 against ¥64.67.

The shape of that growth is worth reading. Cost of sales rose only 12.1%, to ¥276 million, so the gross margin widened 0.8 point to 83.3% — but selling, general and administrative expenses rose 19.6% to ¥1,049 million, faster than the 17.5% revenue line, and the operating margin therefore narrowed 0.3 point to 19.9%. Below the operating line, income taxes rose 26.6% to ¥132 million, which is why the bottom line grew 7.5% while operating profit grew 15.9%.

Unchanged guidance implies a loss-making second half

The company left full-year FY1/2027 guidance exactly as it was: revenue of ¥3,100 million (+21.2%), operating profit of ¥50 million (−80.1%), ordinary profit of ¥38 million (−84.7%), net profit of ¥27 million (−72.0%) and earnings per share of ¥9.94. Set against the ¥329 million of operating profit already booked in the first half, that guide is arithmetic for an operating loss of roughly ¥279 million in the six months to January 2027 — and, on the same subtraction, an ordinary loss of about ¥283 million and a net loss of about ¥162 million.

The filing does not publish a line-by-line bridge to that second half. What it does describe is spending: hiring highly specialised staff, and marketing to acquire respondents for mond, its question-and-answer service, which it has also begun taking into English-speaking markets. The size of the implied loss is the company's own two numbers subtracted, not a figure the company has itself explained.

New-graduate services carried the growth

Howtelevision reports a single segment, the Platform business, so the filing carries no segment disclosure. It does break out one line: revenue from new-graduate services rose 20.1% to ¥1,428 million, faster than the group's 17.5% and accounting for most of the increase. The mid-career service Liiga, the recruitment-process-outsourcing line and mond are not given separate revenue figures, and none should be inferred. Group KPIs at the half-year end were 1,112 cumulative client companies, 24 more than at the fiscal year-end, and 767,973 cumulative members, up 62,498.

The half's initiatives were mostly product and event work: the full rollout of the integrated management tool Shukatsu Copilot and the launch of AI interview preparation within its AI selection-preparation series; Meetup and Expo events, including an engineer hackathon co-hosted with Mercari; and in April a fully vetted social-dining service, LYMiN. In mid-career, the company cites integrating the member base with Gaishishukatsu.com and higher placement fees; in recruitment process outsourcing, an award at the Tenshoku Draft AWARD run by Livesense's mid-career service.

The balance sheet grew 27% on an accounting change, not on borrowing

Total assets rose 26.9% to ¥3,429 million, and almost all of that came from one decision. Fixed assets rose ¥815 million, of which ¥748 million was right-of-use assets recognised on early adoption of the new lease accounting standard. Property, plant and equipment excluding those assets rose ¥82 million on a head office relocation, and software ¥21 million, while deferred tax assets fell ¥17 million. Current assets fell ¥87 million to ¥1,746 million, as cash and deposits rose ¥20 million but accounts receivable fell ¥87 million.

The same standard drives the liability side. Non-current liabilities rose ¥566 million, of which lease liabilities accounted for ¥592 million, with asset retirement obligations up ¥41 million and long-term borrowings down ¥68 million on repayment. Current liabilities fell ¥44 million, with lease liabilities up ¥192 million and contract liabilities up ¥141 million against a ¥420 million fall in accrued expenses. Net assets rose ¥206 million to ¥1,637 million on ¥188 million of retained earnings and ¥15 million of share subscription rights. The equity ratio fell from 52.3% to 46.8% — mostly a standard grossing up both sides of the balance sheet, not added leverage.

No dividend, a share split, and one subsidiary out of the group

The dividend is ¥0.00 at every point: no interim and no year-end, in the prior year and in the current forecast, with no revision. Per-share figures are comparable year on year because a 2-for-1 common-share split carried out on August 1, 2025 is applied as if it had occurred at the start of the prior fiscal year — earnings per share of ¥69.59 against ¥64.67, and diluted earnings per share of ¥67.70 against ¥64.21, are therefore like-for-like. One subsidiary, Logrio Inc., left the scope of consolidation during the half, and the early adoption of the lease standard is recorded as an accounting-policy change other than a standards revision.

The hiring market it sells into

The filing sets out its own backdrop. Japan's job-openings-to-applicants ratio was 1.18 times in June 2026 against 1.22 a year earlier, on labour ministry data, and unemployment was 2.5%, unchanged year on year — a market still tilted toward job seekers. For the class of 2028, company hiring schedules are moving earlier and internships are expanding, pulling job-hunting forward with them. And on the company's own survey, nearly 40% of students now use generative AI as a job-hunting information tool, which is the demand the AI products described above are aimed at.

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.