TO Books Posts ¥446 Million Q1 Operating Profit on ¥3,320 Million Revenue as Anime Adaptations Lift Book Sales

A quarterly report with no year-earlier quarter beside it

TO Books, Inc. (TSE: 500A), a publisher of novels and comics that develops its titles into anime, stage productions and merchandise, published non-consolidated results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending April 2027 — May 1 to July 31, 2026 — on September 14, 2026 under Japanese GAAP. Revenue was ¥3,320 million, operating profit ¥446 million, ordinary profit ¥450 million and net profit ¥292 million, for earnings of ¥83.31 per share, or ¥76.16 fully diluted. The company did not prepare quarterly financial statements for the first quarter of FY4/2026, so the filing prints no year-earlier figures and no growth rates and makes no comparison with that period; every prior-year cell in the profit rows of the table is a dash. The shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Two-thirds of revenue kept as gross profit

Cost of sales was ¥1,115.8 million, leaving gross profit of ¥2,204 million, a gross margin of 66.4%. Selling, general and administrative expenses came to ¥1,758 million, equal to 53.0% of revenue; the filing does not break them down. What remained was operating profit of ¥446.2 million, an operating margin of 13.4%.

The amounts below the operating line were small. Non-operating income was ¥4.7 million, of which ¥4.65 million was interest received, and non-operating expenses ¥0.5 million, including ¥0.4 million of interest paid, so ordinary profit came to ¥450.4 million. There were no extraordinary items, and pre-tax profit was the same figure. Income taxes, which the company estimates by applying its expected effective tax rate for the full year, took ¥157.5 million, or 35.0% of pre-tax profit, leaving net profit of ¥293.0 million, 8.8% of revenue. Depreciation and amortisation for the quarter totalled ¥16.5 million.

Anime adaptations carry the books and comics

The filing describes a business built on creating intellectual property from novels and comics and then extending it into anime, stage productions and merchandise within a single organisation, under a management philosophy of delivering more stories. It notes that Japan's print publishing market is shrinking while digital publishing grows, citing industry figures that put the digital market for January to June 2026 at ¥286.7 billion, up 2.0% from a year earlier, and says that shift is also helping its core light-novel and comics business.

According to the filing, sales of books and comics held up well, led by titles with anime adaptations. A TV anime based on one of its series, which began airing in April 2026 in a nationwide Saturday-evening slot, drew new viewers on top of the existing fans and substantially raised awareness of the work; the company says this widened the fan base for the property as a whole and lifted sales of the original books and comics. A second TV anime series, which started airing in July 2026, is also adding to sales of its source books and comics. TO Books reports a single segment, the IP creation and development business, so the filing gives no breakdown by product or title.

Tax and dividend payments shrank the balance sheet

Total assets fell 7.3% to ¥9,678 million from ¥10,441 million at April 30, 2026. Current assets dropped ¥751.9 million to ¥8,682.9 million: cash and deposits fell ¥491.7 million to ¥5,172 million, accounts receivable ¥98.4 million to ¥2,357.1 million and other current assets ¥180.3 million to ¥689.1 million, while merchandise and finished goods edged up to ¥388.0 million from ¥374.0 million. Fixed assets slipped ¥11.8 million to ¥995.3 million, mainly because property, plant and equipment declined ¥10.2 million.

Liabilities, all of them current, fell ¥793.0 million to ¥2,375.4 million. The largest move was in income taxes payable, down ¥506.4 million to ¥107.5 million; accounts payable fell ¥54.1 million to ¥787.1 million and other current liabilities to ¥1,355.9 million from ¥1,587.9 million, while short-term borrowings stayed at ¥100.0 million. Net assets edged up 0.4% to ¥7,302 million: the quarter's ¥293.0 million net profit more than covered ¥267.2 million of dividends paid, and capital and the capital reserve each rose ¥1.8 million as shares issued increased by 5,400 to 3,521,800. With total assets smaller, the equity ratio rose from 69.6% to 75.4%. The company holds no treasury stock.

Guidance and the ¥76 dividend unchanged

TO Books left unchanged the full-year FY4/2027 guidance it published on June 15, 2026 with its FY4/2026 results: revenue of ¥12,500 million (+6.0%), operating profit of ¥1,900 million (−4.3%), ordinary profit of ¥1,900 million (−2.8%) and net profit of ¥1,300 million (−0.8%), for earnings of ¥369.70 per share. The first quarter delivered 26.6% of guided revenue, 23.5% of guided operating profit, 23.7% of guided ordinary profit and 22.5% of guided net profit. The filing does not say why profits are guided slightly lower on higher revenue.

For FY4/2026 the company paid a year-end dividend of ¥76.00 per share, with nothing at the half-year, and for FY4/2027 it forecasts the same ¥76.00 year-end payment, unchanged from its previous forecast. The filing reports no significant subsequent events, and the quarterly financial statements were not reviewed by an auditor.

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.