Kuraray (3405) Q2 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Net sales rose 7.9% year-over-year to ¥411.2B, operating income up 11% to ¥45.5B, and net income up 39.4% to ¥30.4B, all setting interim records, driven by sales volume growth and yen depreciation.

• All financial KPIs improved, with ROIC at 7.5% and EBITDA margin at 21.2% for 1H FY2024.

• Upward revision of full-year forecasts for net sales, operating income, and net income.

• Sales volume expanded across many businesses despite global economic uncertainty and geopolitical risks.

Financial highlights

• 1H FY2024 net sales ¥411.2B (+¥30.2B), operating income ¥45.5B (+¥4.5B), net income ¥30.4B (+¥8.6B) year-over-year.

• Gross profit increased to ¥133.4B from ¥119.8B year-over-year; operating margin improved to 11.1%.

• Equity ratio improved to 60.4% as of June 30, 2024; net assets rose to ¥819.4B.

• Operating cash flow ¥63.7B, free cash flow ¥27.9B, CAPEX ¥34.9B in 1H FY2024.

• Cash and cash equivalents at period-end were ¥126.2B, up from ¥110.3B a year earlier.

Outlook and guidance

• FY2024 net sales forecast raised to ¥850.0B (+¥69.1B vs. FY2023), operating income to ¥89.0B (+¥13.5B), net income to ¥55.0B (+¥12.6B).

• Dividend forecast increased by ¥4 to ¥54 per share for FY2024.

• Share buyback of up to 15M shares and ¥20.0B planned, targeting a total return ratio of around 68%.

• CAPEX for FY2024 set at ¥130.0B (decision basis), R&D expenses at ¥27.0B.