■Future outlook

1. Earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending 2024/9

As for the earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending 2024/9 of BB Systems ＜4447＞, the initial plan for sales is 3,200 million yen, up 10.3% from the previous fiscal year, operating income of 347 million yen, up 15.1% from the same period, ordinary profit of 346 million yen, up 17.0% from the same period, and net income of 237 million yen, up 15.3% from the same period. The company positions the 2024/9 fiscal year as “1 year that will be the first step to steer to scale expansion,” and by strengthening sales power through aggressive human resource enhancement and the establishment of new bases in the metropolitan area, it aims to increase sales and profit by 2 digits, and renew the highest profit for each profit for 6 consecutive terms.

In the 2024/9 plan, we will endeavor to further enhance human resources by implementing the following three measures under the slogan “Aim for a strong company.” The first is the “expansion of recruitment of new graduates,” which is scheduled to double from 4 graduates in 2024 to 8 in 2025. Recruiting new graduates has progressed smoothly since the Human Resources Development Department was established. The idea is to continue developing a system and appealing to establish a position where U-turn human resources living all over the country and excellent human resources living in Kyushu gather in the medium to long term. The second is “opening a new office.” The idea is to establish an “engineer habitat” as a human resource development base in Fukuoka City and build a “ecosystem” of a new type of engineer, so to speak, to develop engineer human resources with both technical ability and business sense (operation will begin at the end of 2024/2). The third is “building an in-house education system,” and in addition to introducing the latest technology verification equipment selected by engineers and using it as a means to further refine technology, we plan measures such as promoting various OJT and refining human resource development systems based on qualification allowance systems.

Regarding human resources, a specific numerical plan was shown in the first-half financial results presentation materials. The current plan for the 2024/9 fiscal year is to add 6 mid-career hires and 4 new graduate hires to 58 existing employees for a total of 68 people. After that, we will take steps with 82 people (68 existing employees, 6 mid-career hires, 8 new graduate hires) in the 2025/9 fiscal year and 96 people (82 existing employees, 6 mid-career hires, 8 new graduate hires) in the 2026/9 fiscal year, and aim for a system with 110 employees at the end of the 2027/9 fiscal year.

The recruitment record is 14 people as of 5/14, and the number of employees is approximately 70 people (including dispatch) in 2024/5. The target number of people at the end of the term has exceeded 68, and it is positive that recruitment is progressing smoothly. Additionally, it has been announced that the scholarship refund support system will begin on 2024/6/1 to expand recruitment. The scholarship refund support system that has been decided to be introduced this time is characterized by being able to receive scholarship refund support over a long period of up to 15 years (15,000 yen per month) regardless of the number of years after joining the company, including not only new graduates but also mid-career hires and existing employees. It is a system that aims to remove financial and psychological burdens from employees who have repaid scholarships and provide an environment where they can draw positive future prospects for their lives. Appropriate recruitment routes and employee support are being expanded, and once these are stabilized, retaining human resources will naturally become the next focus.

Also, on the sales side, we will focus further on expanding orders in the metropolitan area where demand is strong. In particular, response to increased demand from SaaS operators and AI operators is being kept in mind, and since cloud construction needs related to these service providers are currently expanding in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the conventional Tokyo sales department will be strengthened, and the system will be strengthened by establishing a new base in Tokyo (Tokyo office opened in 2024/1, and expanded to a 4-person system from 2024/5/1). As for the additional members in the Tokyo office, it seems that they will all be using referrals, and it is expected that they will move to a high operating state as soon as possible. Furthermore, as a point on the sales side, it is also important for companies expanding into Kyushu to respond to demand. In the Kyushu region, semiconductor-related investments such as Tokyo Electron ＜8035＞ have been made one after another, using large factories launched by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) as the biggest example. Due to such a major trend, opportunities to set up advanced VDI businesses such as virtual desktops have emerged for semiconductor-related companies, and since it can be expected to increase in the future, the idea is to reliably seize business opportunities and link them to results. As actual contributions were seen in the first half results, acquisition of projects by electronic materials and semiconductor-related companies is doing well. However, there is no change in the direction of adhering to a policy of approaching all industries without narrowing down targets to the same industry and aiming to acquire customers who can provide high added value. Additionally, by participating as a Cybereason partner, it seems that cybersecurity-related business negotiations are progressing more easily, and I would like to pay attention to this trend as well.

On the other hand, with regard to the emotional system business, we will continue to create and sell tie-up content with popular attractions that respond to domestic leisure demand such as amusement parks and theme parks, and strive to receive orders in the fields of proposed sales in line with local government tourism demand and regional revitalization policies, and disaster prevention education and disaster simulation fields. Participation in the “Disaster Prevention Consortium CORE” was also announced, but it seems that movements aimed at capturing demand are being accelerated, such as further building a collaborative system with local government disaster prevention consultants.

Additionally, the space industry was added as a new area of focus, and inquiries from space ventures and space-related organizations have actually increased, leading to a space elevator experience project with the Obayashi Group in “SUSHI Tech Tokyo 2024.” Also, with regard to the corporate metaverse, sales of the new service “Mental Training in Metaverse that Enhances the Mind's Perspective and Perspective” have begun during the 3rd quarter period. Customers who have already participated in the free trial session have received a favorable impression, such as feedback on specific images of how to use it in-house, and the company anticipates that the accuracy of order acceptance will be high.

(Author: FISCO Analyst Tomokazu Murase)