Teijin Ltd

TSE:3401

Q3-2026 Earnings Call

[Akimoto Uchikawa, executive]

I will explain the results of the third quarter and the full year outlook. Please see Page 1 of the document.

First of all, as for the third quarter results, adjusted operating income landed at JPY 23.8 billion. It decreased by JPY 1.8 billion year-on-year. In the Healthcare business, income increased due to an increase in the number of printed home medical devices and income from licensing fees in the third quarter. On the other hand, in the Materials business, there was a large-scale periodic maintenance for aramid in the first half, and there was a deterioration in the sales mix.

In addition, we decided to sell the aramid paper business. So the profit on the business has been excluded since September. Including these, we had an overall decrease in income of JPY 1.8 billion. In addition, impairment losses were recorded in the third quarter related to the temporary suspension of the carbon fiber plant in the U.S. This will also be explained in detail later.

The full year outlook remains unchanged from the previous outlook of JPY 25 billion in adjusted operating income. We plan to pay an annual dividend of JPY 50 per share, which is also unchanged from the previous forecast. As a topic, we announced the business integration of Teijin Frontier and Asahi Kasei Advance in December. Moriyama will explain this later as well.

Please see Page 4 of the document. First, I will explain the highlights of actual results in the third quarter. Revenue was JPY 659.9 billion, down JPY 96.2 billion year-on-year. And adjusted operating income was JPY 23.8 billion, down JPY 1.8 billion year-on-year. The nonrecurring items recorded a very large negative figure of minus JPY 74.9 billion, which I will explain in more detail later. Due to this impact, profit attributable to owners of the parent for the third quarter was minus JPY 59 billion.

Please see Page 5. The page shows revenue and adjusted operating income by segment. Revenue, as I mentioned earlier, was JPY 659.9 billion, down JPY 96.2 billion year-on-year. The main reason for this is the large difference of minus JPY 82.9 billion in materials. As you know, the sale of Composites business in North America was completed on July 1. Accordingly, the sales of the Composites business in North America have been removed since the second quarter. This is the main reason for the decrease in revenue. Adjusted operating income on the right side landed at JPY 23.8 billion. By segment, the Healthcare business achieved an increase of JPY 4.9 billion, while the Materials, Fibers & Products Converting and other segments recorded a decrease, resulting in an overall decrease of JPY 1.8 billion. The following pages will explain the changes in adjusted operating income.

Please see Page 6. First, Materials. Adjusted operating income landed at JPY 0.5 billion, down JPY 1.4 billion year-on-year. The latter chart in the middle of the page shows the structure of the increased decrease in income. The situation continues to be difficult due to the large negative difference in sales volume and spread. In light of this situation, we have taken measures to improve profitability and have regained a certain degree of profitability.

However, we have fallen slightly short of the previous year's level, landing at minus JPY 1.4 billion for the first 9 months of the fiscal year. The table at the bottom shows the situations by subsegment. In order from the best to the worst, the composites business secured an increase in income. The resin business was almost unchanged year-on-year, while carbon fibers and aramid business saw a decrease in income year-on-year.

In the composites, the effects of the profitability improvement reforms implemented in the previous fiscal year have taken root and the deficit has been eliminated following the transfer of the North American business, resulting in a large year-on-year increase in income. In the resins business, sales declined slightly for equipment applications, but this was offset by the maintenance of spreads and other factors, resulting in earnings at about the same level as in the previous year.

On the other hand, the carbon fibers business experienced a decline in sales volume, which had the effect of lowering factory capacity utilization. The decline in sales prices, mainly in general purpose applications has also had an impact. Although cost structure reform efforts have covered this to a certain extent, the efforts have not been enough to fully offset the impact, resulting in a decrease in income year-on-year.

With regard to aramid fibers, there was a decline in capacity utilization due to large-scale periodic maintenance mainly in the first half of this fiscal year, resulting in a decrease in income. Also, there was a decrease in sales prices. These 2 are major factors for the decrease of income, but we worked on cost structure reforms and we recovered some of the losses.

In the second quarter, we recorded a major impairment on our fixed assets. Because of this, the effect of reduced amortization expense has occurred since the third quarter. Although raw material and fuel prices also contributed to the increase in income, the aramid business as a whole saw a year-on-year decrease in income in the third quarter.

Fibers & Products. The Fibers & Products Converting business was JPY 13.2 billion, a year-on-year decline of JPY 1.9 billion for the first 9 months of the fiscal year. We have commented below. Sales continue to be strong, but there were some factors contributing to the decline in income for both Fiber Materials and Apparel and Industrial Materials.

In Fiber Materials and Apparel, there was some impact from the advanced shipment of textiles for China in the previous fiscal year. In addition, Industrial Materials were affected by softening demand in automotive applications. The difference of minus JPY 1.5 billion was recorded in volume as a result of these factors. But on the other hand, there was an improvement effect of about JPY 1 billion in spread. However, as of the third quarter, the increase in sales expansion costs, labor costs and others could not be fully covered, resulting in an overall decrease of JPY 1.9 billion year-on-year.

Healthcare was JPY 12.9 billion, an increase of JPY 4.9 billion year-on-year. The negative impact of the drug price revisions was offset to a certain extent mainly by CPAP and increased sales of OSTABALO. In addition, the measures to improve profitability that have been implemented since the previous fiscal year had a certain degree of effect in reducing fixed costs. And there was the impairment of intangible fixed assets of the sales rights for diabetes treatment drugs at the end of the previous fiscal year.

These factors resulted in a decrease in amortization expenses. In addition, licensing income was received in the third quarter. These factors compensated for the increased cost of home devices, and there was an increase of JPY 3.9 billion in income in others, resulting in the overall income of JPY 12.9 billion, an increase of JPY 4.9 billion.

Other segment was JPY 4.2 billion, a decrease of JPY 2.5 billion year-on-year. Sales of separators and membranes have remained strong with sales almost on a par with the previous year. On the other hand, there was a difference in others. This is a decrease in profit of equity method affiliates. The main reason for this is the exclusion of P&L in the aramid paper business from adjusted operating income due to the decision to sell the business. Mainly due to the negative effect of exclusions since September, there was a decrease of JPY 2.5 billion in others. Because of this, the overall income saw a decrease of JPY 2.5 billion year-on-year. This is finance income and costs, nonrecurring items.

As for finance income and costs on the left side, expenses were almost the same as in the previous year. On the other hand, there is a large number of nonrecurring items on the right side. I'll explain details for this. First, impairment losses totaled JPY 60.8 billion in the third quarter of the current fiscal year. As I explained in the second quarter, the impairment loss of fixed assets in the business is JPY 49.5 billion, which is included in this amount.

On the other hand, an impairment loss of JPY 7.3 billion was recorded for the carbon fibers business in the third quarter. Mainly due to these 2 factors, the impairment loss was JPY 60.8 billion. Loss on sales of shares of subsidiaries and affiliates was minus JPY 10.6 billion. The main factor for this is the loss from the sale of the Coms business in North America. In addition, a loss of JPY 4.6 billion was incurred in others. This is due to cost of structural reforms in the aramid and carbon fibers businesses.

In total, a large loss of JPY 74.9 billion was incurred in nonrecurring items. Including this, the net loss for the 9-month period ended in JPY 59 billion. Balance sheet. Total assets amounted to JPY 989.6 billion, a significant decrease of JPY 71.6 billion from the previous year. The main reason for this is that following the sale of the comps business in North America, the related assets were taken off the balance sheet. Also, the impairment losses I just explained. Fixed assets decreased due to impairment losses on fixed assets in the A business and carbon fibers business. These 2 factors resulted in a decrease of JPY 71.6 billion.

Net assets saw a decrease of JPY 47.3 billion. Net assets decreased mainly due to the net loss of JPY 59 billion in the third quarter. With a D/E ratio of 0.86 on a gross basis and 0.69 on a net basis, we believe that we have maintained a sound financial health. As for cash flows, operating cash flow was JPY 73.2 billion, a JPY 32.3 billion increase year-on-year.

Cash increased year-on-year. We comment that the main reason is the improvement in working capital. The major factor is that the aramid business underwent large-scale operating maintenance in the first half of this fiscal year and the inventory accumulated in the previous fiscal year was sold in the current fiscal year, leading to an improvement in cash flow. This resulted in an operating cash flow of JPY 73.2 billion.

Next, I'll explain the full year outlook. Please see Page 14. Here is a summary. The annual sales revenue is JPY 860 billion. Adjusted operating income is JPY 25 billion and loss attributable to owners of parent is JPY 10 billion. The outlook for all of them is unchanged from the previous outlook, a decrease of JPY 145.5 billion in revenue year-on-year. As I explained in the third quarter results, this is due to the exclusion of revenue of the composites business in North America from PL because of the sale of the business.

As for the JPY 10 billion loss for the year, the annual forecast is that the loss will be improved from the JPY 59 billion loss for the first 9 months of the year to a loss of JPY 10 billion. This outlook remains unchanged at this time. A major factor is that, as announced in August, we have decided to sell our shareholding in a joint venture company in the aramid paper business, which is scheduled to be executed by March. We have incorporated the effect of this sale.

In addition, some nonrecurring income is expected to be incurred. When these are included as the current announcement, the loss attributable to owners of parent of JPY 10 billion will be maintained. The page shows revenue and adjusted operating income by segment. There is no change in the revenue outlook from the previous outlook. We have not changed the bottom line for adjusted operating income, but we made adjustments of JPY 1.5 billion between the Materials and Other segments. I will explain situations in adjusted operating income.

As for Materials, the income for the year is expected to be JPY 1.5 billion. Year-on-year, we forecast a decrease of JPY 4.5 billion. Please see the latter chart. The structure has not changed significantly from the 9-month total. There are large decreases in sales volume and spread, mainly for aramid and carbon fibers. Although we will recover some of this amount through measures to improve profitability, we will not be able to fully recover it. We expect to post a JPY 1.5 billion income, a year-on-year decrease of JPY 4.5 billion.

The table below shows the situation by subsegment. This also shows no major structural change from the 9 months total. We forecasted income will increase for composites remain unchanged from the previous year for resin and decrease for carbon and aramid. As for the factors behind the income increase for composites, as I explained earlier, the firmly established profitability improvement effect and the elimination of the deficit associated with the sale of the North American business result in a large increase in income. We expect that resin will maintain income at the same level as the previous year as spread will be successfully maintained in response to the decline in sales volume.

As for carbon fibers, we expect that the effect of lowering capacity utilization due to a decline in sales volume will remain until the end. Although cost structure reforms will recover a certain amount, we will not be able to fully recover it. Income for the full year will be lower than the previous year's level.

As for aramid, the impact of the decrease in capacity utilization due to the large-scale periodic maintenance will unfortunately remain until the end. In addition, the impact of the decline in sales prices has been significant. Cost structure reforms are being implemented to address this. As there were impairment losses in the second quarter, there is the effect of reduced amortization expense. Also, this is the impact of lower raw material and fuel prices. The sales volume itself has increased compared to the previous year, and this has had a positive effect. However, we expect that we will not be able to fully recover and see a year-on-year decrease in income.

Please see Page 17. In the Fibers & Products Converting business, we forecast JPY 18 billion, an increase of JPY 0.3 billion year-on-year. In sales volume, as I explained earlier, there were some negative factors occurring in both Fiber Materials and Apparel and Industrial Materials. On the other hand, we are working to improve the sales mix by frequently withdrawing from low-profit businesses and taking other measures. We expect to see an increase of about JPY 2 billion in the spread difference in the end.

In others, there is an impact from sales expansion costs and an increase in labor costs, but we are working to cover these costs and ultimately reach JPY 18 billion. Healthcare is expected to reach JPY 12.5 billion, an increase of JPY 6.8 billion year-on-year. We expect that the impact of the drug price revisions will somehow be covered by the sales volume. We expect to achieve this goal by increasing number of CPAP rentals and sales of OSTABALO. We continue to take action to reduce fixed costs and expect to achieve an annual effect of JPY 2 billion.

Then in others, there was the effect of lower amortization expenses due to impairment losses recorded in the previous fiscal year as well as licensing income, which I explained earlier. This will cover the increased cost of home medical devices and generate an increase of JPY 4.8 billion in others. We expect an increase of JPY 6.8 billion year-on-year. In others segment, adjusted operating income will be JPY 3 billion, a decrease of JPY 4.1 billion year-on-year.

Sales of separators and membranes have remained strong. The spread difference has a slight decrease and the volume difference cannot fully cover it, but the overall situation has been solid. On the other hand, because of decrease in profit of equity method affiliates in the year and initial costs associated with the fuel conversion for power generation, as you can see in the comment, there will be a decrease of JPY 3.6 billion in others. We expect JPY 3 billion for the year, a decrease of JPY 4.1 billion.

This is all from me for now, and I would like to pass the baton to Moriyama.

[Naohiko Moriyama, executive]

Now I would like to explain the topics on the next 4 pages. The first page summarizes Teijin's business portfolio transformation that we have. On the left, in 2024 and 2025, we work to divest underperforming and less focused businesses. We have completed the closing of the businesses on the other side.

We conducted divestment of businesses that were deemed to be less focused, such as e-commerce and artificial joints and composites business in North America, which was underperforming. aramid paper, logistics and others are also subject to the divestment, although the transfer has not yet been completed. The reason why we have conducted divestment is that we have limited resources in terms of human, material and financial resources.

We are planning to concentrate these limited resources in the growing areas such as the Fibers & Products Converting, the health care and resin and plastic processing in the 3 years of our next medium-term plan, 2026, 2027 and 2028. That's why we have conducted divestment. The common feature of all of these areas of growth is that although the fields of business differ, they are in the business of getting close to our customers' issues and solving them.

With regard to the Fibers & Products Converting, we have already announced the business integration with Asahi Kasei Advance last December. In the Fibers & Products Converting, we're engaged in a business where we solve a wide range of customer issues in the fields of apparel fibers and industrial materials and grow their business profits. We are working to expand the area we are good at through the integration with Asahi Kasei Advance.

As for the health care, our business areas are different, but we have been working together with patients, doctors and other people who are in need of solutions to their problems and have created the business of home medical care for 30 years. We intend to make the health care for which we have created such a foundation, the second pillar of growth.

Another candidate is the resin plastic processing business. We call the resin business compound. We don't stick to polycarbonate very much. By combining polycarbonate with various other resins, we are working to solve our customers' problems and various issues and create new businesses for them. While we will grow mainly with these 3 businesses, aramid and carbon fibers once were or rather still are very strong as materials. Various competitors such as China and Korea have emerged and the situation is very challenging. In the 3 years of the next midterm plan, we will continue to reform our cost structure in these areas and materialize customer-centric business by looking at these 3 businesses sideways and doing the same.

Our next page is about the business integration with Asahi Kasei Advance and the Fibers & Products Converting business. This is the same material used in December last year. We would like to start a new joint venture with Teijin 80% and Asahi Kasei 20% investment on October 1 of this year, 2026. We have announced a business integration. When the company is established, it will aim revenue of JPY 440 billion and consolidated adjusted operating income of JPY 22 billion.

As we announced in December, we expect 5 synergy effects. We have always thought that the customer-centric model of Teijin Frontier and Asahi Kasei Advance are quite similar. And we believe that features 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 can be expanded. I'll explain 1 and 2 in particular. Naturally, we will be able to expand our sales channels, procurement sources and products. Also, we will have a variety of different products, so we will be able to respond to new markets and improve the ability.

We think of this as the power kumiawase, combination, and the power suriawase, co-creation. As you can see in a little more detail on the right side, through Teijin Frontier's strength, a very strong sales network centering on Asia, we will be able to provide Asahi Kasei Advance competitive products as something that will further contribute to solving the issues of customers in that area. We also believe that combining materials for both companies will allow us to make proposal that will solve different customer problems.

For example, if we combine nylon, which is Asahi Kasei Advances' strength with polyester fibers, which is Teijin Frontier's strength, although they are strong even now, we could make different proposals for global apparel, sports applications and various other users. In addition, the value chain of the airbag business can be unified. We will be thinking about how we can solve even different customer issues by reducing costs more robustly. I think we already have some things in mind, but we are going to continue to think about it.

We are also considering cross-selling civil engineering and construction materials, although the scope is a little narrower than the above 2. We have announced the integration and are now moving forward with it because we believe that will contribute to strengthening our model to solve customer issues.

This is a summary of our efforts to improve the future profitability of carbon fibers. At the top is our carbon fibers. We are still maintaining high profitability and strength in aircraft applications, where our products have been adopted by a wide range of customers. We will continue to concentrate on those things and do our best. There are very high entry barriers. Of course, safe operation is the most important thing for aircraft, just as it is for me when I am on board.

For safe operation, fibers that have a proven track record are reliable and have been used for a long time are valued. We have those fibers, so we will concentrate on this high profit area. However, there are various fields and there are strong competitors such as China and Korea in some fields. We would like to expand our intermediate materials business for industrial and recreational applications in these areas, regardless of whether we use our own or other companies' materials.

On the other side, I skip the explanation. In the area aircraft applications, we are making good progress in developing a program for next-generation aircraft with intermediate materials to combine materials and resins, not only yarn and materials. There are these 2 points that the implementation of structural reforms is essential. We have 3 bases in Japan, the U.S. and Europe, and we are promoting the optimization of production lines. Of these operation of the U.S. plant in South Carolina will be temporarily suspended. In addition, a fundamental review of the cost structure is also being conducted as a matter of course.

As you can see on the left side, we are retreating from low profit businesses as much as possible and decisively reducing the scale of production. As we mentioned repeatedly, as for our growth strategy, we are promoting prints for next-generation aircraft, high resistant preprints for aircraft applications, including defense in the U.S. as well as the intermediate materials business in Asia, where we are not limited to our own materials.

As summarized here as expected effects, we would like to reduce our workforce by 80 employees by temporarily spending operations at our South Carolina plant in the U.S. We also intend to reduce fixed costs by JPY 5 billion for the next midterm period. We are moving forward with this plan with the hope that by making these reductions over fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026, we will be able to achieve a significant improvement in profitability from fiscal 2026.

This concludes my explanation.