Performance trends of System D<3804>.
2. Trends by Business Segment
(1) Mainland Education Solutions Business The Mainland Education Solutions Business expects an increase in revenue of single digits compared to the previous year. The demand for 'Campus Plan Smart' is increasing, and several new cases are expected to be introduced. Existing products are also compatible with the latest Server OS and database software, and support is continuing. It is expected that it will take several years for existing customers to migrate to 'Campus Plan Smart'. In addition, based on the operational results at Kochi University, the Company will actively conduct sales activities for national and public universities to expand sales in the future. For small-scale target customers, the company has a strategy to expand their share with 'Campus Plan Smart Cloud,' which has less initial investment burden.
In the Academic Solution Business, they provide the Campus Plan, a school information integration management system that supports comprehensive school operation. The information system that supports school operation is divided into two major categories: academic series (student-related tasks) and corporate series (internal management tasks of school corporations). Campus Plan is characterized as software that supports these tasks comprehensively and is its strength. The target audience is national and public universities and private school corporations (universities, junior colleges, high schools, vocational schools, etc.), and their products have been launched in about 350 out of 1,113 national, public and private universities (including junior colleges), establishing a top share in the industry※. In addition to universities, it has also been introduced in private vocational schools and high schools, and the cumulative number of schools introduced as of the end of April 2024 increased by 13 from the same period last year to 1,034 schools (the current number of users is 531 schools).
※The competitor is Japan System Technology <4323>, with an introduction record of 447 schools as of the end of March 2024. 4.15 billion yen in revenue for the fiscal year 2024 ended in March.
The total sales for the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year were 708 million yen, a decrease of 2.0% compared to the same period last year. Since there were many relatively small projects, the sales revenue decreased slightly, but the introduction to customers, including the next-generation comprehensive school information system Campus Plan Smart, progressed as planned. Regarding the academic solution, growth had been sluggish due to the tendency to postpone system investment by universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the outbreak of COVID-19 ended, and evaluations were made on the operating results of Campus Plan for Kochi University, which was constructed on Google Cloud in the previous period, and an initiative was taken to develop functions using generated AI. As a result, new orders for academic system projects centered around student affairs are increasing, and the situation is ripe for expanding sales in the future.
(2) Wellness Solutions Business The Wellness Solutions Business expects a small increase in revenue, but there is a possibility of slight underperformance considering the progress until the second quarter. As mentioned above, the decrease in sales of purchased items has a significant impact. Whether or not 'Smart Hello Tickets' will be introduced to culture and tourism facilities in the second half of the year will be a key issue because 'Smart Hello' for fitness clubs has been successfully introduced. The goal for 2024 October period is to introduce it to 14 facilities, and it is expected that the introduction will be in full swing with the start of circulation of new banknotes in July 2024.
In the Wellness Solution Business, they offer various systems, such as the membership management system Hello EX for fitness clubs and sports facilities, the operation management system Hello Fun for amusement facilities, and the cloud-based member management system Smart Hello, which was released in November 2020, and the cloud-based ticket management system Smart Hello Ticket, which was released in November 2022. In this business, there are cases where hardware products such as information equipment and entrance/exit gates are sold, so the gross profit margin tends to be relatively low compared to other businesses.
The cumulative number of customers as of the end of April 2024 was 1,545 facilities, an increase of 148 facilities from the same period of the previous year (the current number of users is 819 facilities). Major competitors in the membership management system field include Hacomono (introduced in about 6,000 facilities) and Nesti (introduced in more than 2,200 facilities), while Goodfellows (introduced in more than 350 facilities) is mentioned as a provider of an operation management system for amusement facilities.
The total sales for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2024 were 358 million yen, a decrease of 5.9% compared to the same period last year. The renewal demand for major customer information terminals, which contributed to the increase in sales in the same period last year, had subsided, resulting in decreased revenue. However, the inquiries for Smart Hello, which is offered to small-scale fitness facilities such as 24-hour gyms and golf schools and tuition-based schools, where useful functions necessary for operation can be used on a monthly fee of 1 to 0.04 million yen, increased significantly. As a result, it was introduced in 105 new facilities (total 419 facilities) in the second quarter, contributing to the cumulative sales. It seems that the high cost performance of the required functions offered at a low monthly fee of 1 to 0.04 million yen is highly evaluated. On the other hand, Smart Hello Ticket is characterized as a system that realizes manpower reduction and unmanned operation of facilities as the initial introduction cost (excluding hardware costs) is free and it has the ability to sell web tickets and has a mobile ticketing function. It proposes three plans (monthly 0.03 million yen, 0.06 million yen, and 0.1 million yen) by function, and is expected to be introduced to a wide range of amusement facilities, from small to large facilities. Although there was a period shift in this second quarter, new introductions remained at one facility, but the number of orders increased, and a comeback is expected after the second half of the year.
On the other hand, Smart Hello Ticket is characterized as a system that realizes manpower reduction and unmanned operation of facilities as the initial introduction cost (excluding hardware costs) is free and it has the ability to sell web tickets and has a mobile ticketing function. It proposes three plans (monthly 0.03 million yen, 0.06 million yen, and 0.1 million yen) by function, and is expected to be introduced to a wide range of amusement facilities, from small to large facilities. Although there was a period shift in this second quarter, new introductions remained at one facility, but the number of orders increased, and a comeback is expected after the second half of the year.
※The Small Plan (monthly fee of 0.03 million yen) allows for ticket issuance at the counter, web ticket sales, play guide cooperation, mobile ticketing, and payment terminal cooperation. In addition, the Light Plan (monthly fee of 0.06 million yen) adds automatic cash register cooperation, self-ticketing, annual passports, and group reservation functions as additional features. The Standard Plan (monthly fee of 0.1 million yen) adds group reservation web application, smart phone app, commodity ETF management, gate cooperation, ticket vending machine cooperation. Each plan also comes with phone resistance support (monthly fee of 0.01 million yen). On-premises customization is available separately.
(Written by FISCO guest analyst, Jo Sato)