U-NEXT HOLDINGS FY8/2026 Sales Jump 20% to ¥470 Billion, but Energy Costs Cut Operating Profit 4%; Profit Growth Forecast

Record sales, lower profit

U-NEXT HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. (TSE: 9418) reported consolidated results for FY8/2026, the twelve months from September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, on October 14, 2026 under Japanese GAAP. Net sales rose 20.4% to ¥469,957 million, while operating profit fell 4.2% to ¥30,255 million, ordinary profit 8.8% to ¥28,169 million and net profit attributable to owners of the parent 18.7% to ¥14,959 million, or ¥82.93 per share against ¥101.99. EBITDA, which adds back depreciation and goodwill amortisation, rose 5.9% to ¥46,071 million.

Streaming grows, energy stumbles

The content-distribution business behind the U-NEXT video and e-book platform lifted sales 12.5% to ¥144,460 million and profit 16.9% to ¥11,276 million. It launched a World Golf Pack covering the major tours in December 2025 and a bundled offer with Rakuten Mobile in October 2025, set up a content studio with Korea's CJ ENM and TBS Holdings, made the animation studio GoHands a wholly owned subsidiary and signed a strategic partnership in Japan with NBCUniversal in August.

Store and facility solutions, which supplies background music, POS registers, payment kiosks and other services to restaurants, shops, hotels and hospitals, grew sales 14.0% to ¥110,614 million and profit 3.0% to ¥16,849 million. Since April it has included karaoke-equipment maker XING, the JOYSOUND brand, which the group acquired and consolidated during the year. Telecom and energy sales rose 23.7% to ¥199,459 million, but profit fell 27.7% to ¥9,533 million: a spike in power-procurement costs after the Middle East crisis of February 2026 sharply worsened the electricity business in the second half, and the company is renegotiating terms with customers and sales agents. The finance, real estate and global business more than doubled sales to ¥24,277 million and lifted profit 45.3% to ¥2,156 million.

Balance sheet and cash flow

Total assets rose 36.4% to ¥354,335 million, driven by higher receivables and the XING acquisition, and net assets 15.0% to ¥125,053 million; the equity ratio fell to 30.9% from 37.6%. Operating cash flow was ¥23,743 million. Investing activities used ¥44,240 million, including ¥17,354 million for the acquisition of subsidiaries, funded partly by a ¥20,000 million bond issue and new long-term loans. Cash and equivalents ended the year at ¥62,836 million.

Outlook and dividend

For FY8/2027 the company forecasts net sales of ¥524,000 million (+11.5%), operating profit of ¥32,500 million (+7.4%), ordinary profit of ¥30,700 million (+9.0%), net profit of ¥16,500 million (+10.3%) and EBITDA of ¥53,100 million (+15.3%). It raised the FY8/2026 dividend to ¥17 from ¥15.50 and plans ¥19 for FY8/2027, split equally between the interim and year-end payments.

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.