Latest Business Results

Latest of our Financial Results

(Million yen)

The Market Enterprise Group’s vision is to operate as an “optimized trading company for the creation of a sustainable society.” Group companies are dedicated to providing products and services that match the increasingly diverse range of consumption behaviors and styles of people and for some products and services, business operators and companies. Activities include the use of the Internet to give customers a selection of purchasing channels to match their needs.

Based on the changes and trends in the external and internal environment, we announced a new rolling medium-term management plan on August 14, 2023. To achieve its performance goals (net sales of 30 billion yen and operating income of 2 billion yen) for the final year of the plan (fiscal year ending June 30, 2026), we are currently aiming to establish a presence in the ever-expanding reuse market by increasing investments mainly in our second-hand business for individuals. The following is a summary of the initiatives taken in the second quarter of the fiscal year ending in June 2025 to realize this plan.

Second-hand Online Business
(Second-hand business for individuals)
・Review of the optimal purchase channel according to merchandise and quantities, and optimization of staffing
・Serious consulting sales activities for the purchase of second-hand items at the customers’ homes
・Promotion of DX measures to improve productivity (system function upgrades aimed at improving operational efficiency, including the version upgrade of the auto-call system, partial automation of purchasing operations, and the introduction of AI)

(Agricultural equipment)
・Expansion of transaction scale with domestic corporations
・Usability improvement of overseas cross-border e-commerce sites
・Strengthen credit management for overseas sales

(Oikura)
・IT system investments to increase the earnings of Oikura as a second-hand distribution platform
・Cooperation with the local governments for public-private sector initiatives that contribute to accomplishing the SDGs (increase the second-hand distribution of consumer products to reduce the amount of second-hand products in the trash and the environmental impact of these products)
・Conduct sales activities focused on acquiring new franchisees

Media Business
・Maintenance activities for articles and review of content in this business to accommodate search engine algorithms, and development of new media related to mobile & telecommunications and preowned vehicle purchases

Mobile & Telecommunications Business
・Acquiring new line contracts by promoting simple and easy-to-understand pricing plans that meet the needs of customers, mainly through online advertising
・Increase the option attachment rate by adding option plans that have high compatible with the user's usage scenario (increase the unit fee per line)
・Extending user contract periods and reducing cancellations by promoting plan upgrades for existing users (from 4G to 5G and from 5G NSA to 5G SA)
・Creation of new revenue opportunities at the time of cancellation (e.g., introduction of new plans based on reasons for cancellation)

As a result, net sales were 11,475 million yen, 34.6% higher than in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year. Operating profit was 249 million yen, compared with a loss of 41 million yen one year earlier; and ordinary profit was 313 million yen, compared with a loss of 282 million yen one year earlier. Profit attributable to owners of the parent was 153 million yen, compared with a loss of 627 million yen one year earlier.

Overview by Business Segment
・Second-Hand Online Business
This business, which is the core business of the Market Enterprise Group, buys and sells second-hand merchandise using only the Internet and operates no brick-and-mortar stores.
To purchase second-hand merchandise, this business operates the takakuureru.com comprehensive purchasing website for all types of merchandise and other purchasing websites for specific categories of merchandise. Second-hand merchandise is sold by posting goods simultaneously on many websites, including Yahoo! Auctions, Rakuten, Amazon, Mercari, ReRe, our e-commerce site, and others. The main targets of this business are large or expensive merchandise and merchandise in large quantities. These types of merchandise are not suitable for C2C transactions because of the difficulty of packaging and sending these items. Using the C2B2C structure instead gives people confidence about the quality of merchandise and other aspects of these transactions due to the inclusion of a reputable company as an intermediary. During the past few years, we have used the knowledge acquired by operating this business to start a second-hand agricultural equipment business. In addition to operating this business in Japan, we plan to diversify this business using synergies with other group businesses, such as exporting used agricultural equipment. There are also numerous initiatives underway for enlarging the base of operations for Oikura, an Internet platform that matches sellers of second-hand items, which are ordinary consumers, with buyers, which are second-hand stores.

Results by category during the second quarter are as follows.

(Second-hand business for individuals)
From the previous fiscal year, we have continued productivity improvement measures such as optimizing purchase channels, relocating staff and promoting DX measures, thereby vigorously strengthening our profitability framework.

As a result of these efforts, profitability in the second-hand business for individuals steadily improved, and revenue progress for the second quarter of the fiscal year was favorable.

(Agricultural equipment)
Regarding agricultural equipment, while overseas demand has remained strong, there was a slowdown in growth during this second quarter due to soaring ocean freight rates that peaked in the summer. In addition, due to the review of credit management standards in order to appropriately manage risk in light of the growing ratio of overseas sales to total sales, we have been able to secure appropriate lead time from the receipt of orders to the booking of sales, which caused the timing of sales recognition for new orders to be delayed from the original plan. Furthermore, the number of container vessels skipping ports has been increasing and has led to a temporary rise in inventory awaiting shipment.

To address these circumstances, we renewed our focus on expanding transactions with domestic corporations. As a result, in the agricultural equipment segment, while revenue for the second quarter of the fiscal year remained roughly in line with the previous year, a deterioration in overall product gross margin led to a decline in profits. However, towards the end of the quarter, efforts to rebalance the ratio of domestic and overseas sales contributed to achieving profitability on a single-month basis.

(Oikura)
In the Oikura business, we have invested in IT systems as a second-hand platform to build a larger and more powerful base for long-term earnings. Public-private sector collaboration involving the SDGs is another major theme of this business. We are establishing partnerships with the local governments to increase the utilization of markets for used consumer goods to reduce the volume of waste materials and the environmental impact of discarded items. At the end of December 2024, there were 214 of these partnerships, 35 more than at the end of September 2024, and the population coverage ratio (ratio of the total population of the local governments with the partnership to the total population of Japan) was 38.0%. Due to efforts to increase the number of purchase requests and to acquire franchisees through our owned media, the number of franchisees reached 1,000 (an increase of 272 over the previous quarter), and as a result, sales were favorable.

Sales increased 15.9% to 5,921 million yen, and segment profit increased 182.5% to 432 million yen.

・Media Business
The media business uses the Internet to distribute useful information concerning purchasing activities to people interested in smart consumption. This business operates nine Internet media in five categories.

　・iPhone Kakuyasu SIM Tsushin, SIMCHANGE, and KASHI･ONE, which have information about mobile phones and services
　・Takakuureru.com Magazine and Oikura Magazine, which have information about selling and disposing of items
　・Beginners, which have information about buying items
　・Saiyasu-Syuuri.com, which has information about repairing items
　・UMM (Used Machine Market), a platform for buying and selling used agricultural equipment
　・Car Ultra, a media platform focused on car purchasing
　
During this second quarter, the total number of page views (PVs) fluctuated significantly due to the impact on search rankings of our main media, caused primarily by changes in Google’s core search algorithm implemented in the previous fiscal year. Although the ranking of our media content kept showing some signs of recovery, revenue and profit decreased compared to the same period last year.

As a result, sales decreased by 19.4% to 266 million yen, and segment profit decreased by 10.8% to 137 million yen.

・Mobile & Telecommunications Business
Consolidated subsidiary MEmobile Co., Ltd. is the primary component of this business. This company provides telecommunication services that are less expensive, simpler, and easier to understand. The main service, which uses the Kashimo brand (an abbreviation for the phrase “smart mobile” in Japanese), is an Internet connection service that uses a mobile Wi-Fi router.

During this second quarter, a large number of customers were sent to this business from our mobile phone and services media as strong collaboration with the media business increased. In addition, this business increased its exposure to media operated by other companies. At the same time, by analyzing the reasons for cancellations, we began to provide new guidance on switching from WiMAX to fiber-optic internet, in an effort to create profit opportunities in the event of cancellations. In addition, we worked to increase the fee per line by enhancing the lineup of ancillary options tailored to user usage patterns. We will continue to increase revenues by securing recurring income (income recorded monthly over the term of the user’s contract) by accumulating the number of contract lines and one-time income (income recorded all at once when a new line is acquired).

Because of these numerous marketing initiatives, sales increased by 71.5% to 5,338 million yen and segment profit increased by 54.5% to 273 million yen.