27th floor, Harmony Tower,
1-32-2, Honcho, Nakano-ku,Tokyo 164-0012
TEL 03 6859 8880
© WILL GROUP, INC.
President Yuichi Sumi
In order to achieve sustainable growth of the Group, changing the Group’s profit-generating structure is essential. For the period of the Medium-term Management Plan, the first priority is to regain the lost growth potential of the Domestic Working Business and make it grow again, and so we will make upfront investments for the renewed growth. We aim to regain our growth potential, increase our operating margin for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027 and beyond, and create a highly profitable structure.
In the current fiscal year, while the global economy saw a gradual resumption of economic activities in the era of coexistence with COVID-19 in all countries, the future outlook remained uncertain due to monetary tightening in response to global inflation, financial instability and concerns of recession mainly in the U.S. and Europe, and the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In Japan, there were signs of a gradual recovery in the economy, partly due to the effects of various government policies in the era of coexistence with COVID-19. However, it is necessary to keep a close watch on the risk of a downturn in overseas economies, rising energy and raw material costs, and exchange rate fluctuations.
Under these circumstances, the Group worked on the WORK SHIFT Strategy, which aims to raise the operating margin through a portfolio shift and digital shift in preparation for achieving the goals of the “WILL-being 2023” Medium-term Management Plan, with its final year being the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.
In Japan, although the re-expansion of COVID-19 infection delayed the development of new business opportunities, the business has been steady since October 2022. Overseas, in addition to positive effects from foreign exchange rates and steady growth in temporary staffing, which is being operated in stable business domains, we experienced a sharp demand increase for post-COVID-19 permanent placement services from the first quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 to the third quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.
As a result of the above, revenue for the current fiscal year was ¥143,932 million (up 9.8% year on year), operating profit was ¥5,318 million (down 2.8%), profit before tax was ¥5,146 million (down 2.8%), profit was ¥3,459 million (down 10.2%), profit attributable to owners of parent was ¥3,236 million (down 1.5%), and EBITDA (operating profit + depreciation and amortization + impairment losses) was ¥7,456 million (down 1.3%).
Based on the Company’s policy for shareholder returns (total payout ratio of 30% to the earnings forecast at the beginning of the fiscal year), we intend to pay a year-end dividend of ¥44 per share (ordinary dividend of ¥44 per share) for the current fiscal year, in line with the dividend forecast announced on May 11, 2022. In that event, the total payout ratio would be 31.2%.
With regard to the future outlook, we expect that demand for human resources will remain strong in Japan and in Singapore and Australia, the main areas for our overseas business, which are now in the era of coexistence with COVID-19 with economic activities back to the level before the spread of the virus, although some uncertainty remains due to financial instability, concerns about recession, and rising prices mainly in Europe and the U.S.
In the Domestic Working Business, we will endeavor to expand the construction management engineer domain, increase the number of foreign workers under our contracted management, and increase the number of dispatched regular employees, which are the key strategies of the Medium-term Plan.
For the expansion of the construction management engineer domain, we will further step up our efforts for the recruitment of inexperienced workers and new graduates, as well as implement initiatives to improve the retention rate and increase the contract unit price.
As for the contracted management of foreign workers, we expect an increase in the number of foreign workers entering Japan, and will work to increase orders from clients and expand local hiring activities in the factory outsourcing and nursing care domains. Concerning the dispatching of regular employees, we will apply the recruiting know-how obtained in the sales outsourcing and construction management engineer domains to the factory outsourcing domain and work to increase the number of active workers. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, we are going to make upfront investments (¥1,100 million) in recruiting construction management engineers and sales personnel to realize the scenario drawn up in the Medium-term Plan.
In the Overseas Working Business, we will expand both permanent placement and temporary staffing by increasing the number of consultants. In our full-year consolidated financial forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, revenue is forecast at ¥144,000 million, operating profit at ¥4,200 million, profit before tax at ¥4,100 million, profit at ¥2,900 million, profit attributable to owners of parent at ¥2,800 million, and EBITDA at ¥6,290 million. The exchange rates assumed in the forecast are ¥94 to the Singapore dollar (¥99 in the previous fiscal year) and ¥86 to the Australian dollar (¥93 in the previous fiscal year).
As for the forecast for dividends, as stated in the Medium-term Management Plan “WILL-being 2026,” the Company’s policy for shareholder returns during the period of the Medium-term Plan (from the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 to the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026) is to pay a progressive dividend (*1) with a total payout ratio (*2) of 30% or more. Based on this policy, the dividend forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 is ¥44 per share (ordinary dividend: ¥44), with a total payout ratio of 36.0%.
*1 Progressive dividend means that dividends shall be either maintained or increased and not be reduced from the previous year.
*2 Total payout ratio means the percentage of the total of dividend payout and acquisition of treasury shares to the profit attributable to owners of parent.
Going forward, we will strive to enhance corporate value through sustainable growth and meet the expectations of our shareholders. We ask for your continued support in the future.
