Pia Group has announced its fiscal year 2024 third quarter earnings, reporting consolidated sales of 31.926 billion yen, marking an increase of 11.1% compared to the previous year. The operating profit stood at 1.589 billion yen, up 161.2% year-on-year, and ordinary profit reached 1.42 billion yen, reflecting growth of 149.1%. Notably, the net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to 963 million yen, rising by 135.5% from the same period last year.
This positive performance is attributed to the sustained vibrancy of the domestic leisure and entertainment market, highlighted by increased live event activity and rising attendance and ticket prices, outpacing pre-pandemic levels, according to the "2024 Live Entertainment White Paper" published by Pia Research Institute.
Pia's third quarter results indicate the success of ticket sales for large-scale events across music, theater, and sports, alongside the expansion of its membership business. This growth supported revenue, which reached approximately 200 billion yen, achieving record levels for the third quarter cumulatively. With significant investments in new business initiatives and personnel costs increasing due to salary hikes, operating profit, ordinary profit, and net profit attributable to shareholders all exceeded previous figures, progressing well beyond initial assumptions for the medium-term management plan for 2023-2025.
On the flip side, faced with rising operational expenses and increased external payment fees, Pia will implement fee revisions—the first since the launch of the Ticket Pia service back in 2006—starting October 2024. The company adjusted its full-year consolidated earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2025, as previously announced on February 13, 2025.
Meanwhile, Nissan Motor Company announced on February 13 its third quarter earnings reports for the fiscal year ending March 2025, forecasting large losses. The company reported consolidated operating profit of 64 billion yen, marking a significant decline of 86.6% compared to the same period last year. Nissan has also revised its full-year operating profit forecast down to 120 billion yen from the initially expected 150 billion yen, reflecting a steep decrease of 73.6% compared to the previous year’s figures.
The recent results reveal Nissan's third quarter operating profit fell to 31.1 billion yen, down by 78.0% year-on-year, which translates to a dramatic drop in the operational profit margin from 4.6% to just 1.0% as reported by Minkabu Press.
Similar to Nissan, Unicharm reported its earnings on the same day, forecasting record profits for the fiscal year 2025. The firm announced its net profit for the fiscal year 2024 would amount to 81.8 billion yen, slightly down from the previous year which exceeded 86 billion yen. Looking forward, Unicharm anticipates net income growth of 5.6% for the fiscal year 2025, projecting the highest profits since it began reporting.
Alongside these projections, Unicharm declared plans for increased dividend payments to 18 yen per share, translating to effective growth of 22.7% due to stock splits considered at year-end. The company also reported its consolidated net profit for the past quarter, attributing the decrease by 11.1% to 22.2 billion yen.
These earnings trends appear against the backdrop of Sony Group, which projected for the fiscal year ending March 2025, consolidated net profit of 1.08 trillion yen, equivalent to 11% growth compared with the previous year. This signals positive growth for Sony, attributed to the strength of the company's gaming and music divisions, which have shown resilience amid market fluctuations.
Lastly, SoftBank Group held its earnings briefing for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2025 on February 12, explaining its consolidated results for the period. These developments reflect the broader trends and challenges firms are facing as they adapt amid fluctuated economic conditions and changing consumer behaviors.
Overall, the announcements of fiscal year 2024 third quarter earnings reports reveal mixed results, with companies like Pia and Unicharm thriving under favorable market conditions, whereas Nissan presents sobering outcomes indicating need for strategic reassessments. The dynamics of market behavior have once again underscored the importance of agility and innovation within the corporate sector as these companies navigate their financial futures.