GMO Research & AI <3695> announced its consolidated financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year ending December 2024 (January to September 24). Revenue decreased by 3.8% year-on-year to 3.657 billion yen (an increase of 3.6% excluding the special factors until Q2), operating profit decreased by 75.7% to 0.073 billion yen, ordinary profit decreased by 78.3% to 0.067 billion yen, and quarterly net income attributable to parent company shareholders decreased by 73.1% to 0.058 billion yen.

In terms of sales by distribution channel, the revenue to domestic business companies increased by 20.3% year-on-year to 0.483 billion yen. Domestic business companies engage in specific commercial activities such as manufacturing, sales, finance, retail, transportation, service provision, aiming to generate revenue by providing goods and services to the market, and also including schools and government agencies. The company group supports market research activities by providing services through a cloud-based survey aggregation platform developed by the company, based on market research designs prepared for each business company. During the cumulative period of the third quarter, an increase in user companies was achieved due to the expansion of dedicated teams for business companies, leading to revenue growth.

For domestic survey companies, the revenue for the cumulative period of Q3 decreased by 6.5% to 2.216 billion yen due to special factors such as capital restructuring and a decrease in specific large-scale projects until Q2. However, on a standalone basis, Q3 showed a 3% increase indicating a positive trend, which is expected to continue in Q4. On the other hand, focusing on overseas sales, revenue increased by 7.3% to 0.697 billion yen by changing the sales target from global panel companies to survey companies. Survey companies provide survey services as part of marketing solutions, conducting activities from survey design tailored to the research purpose to data collection, analysis, and report generation, offering a wide range of services related to marketing using various survey methods, including online surveys. The company group provides sample panels owned by the group through its developed platform to conduct surveys independently by survey companies, and also offers services ranging from questionnaire creation to raw data processing.

Revenue from global panel companies declined by 31.5% to 0.259 billion yen due to special factors until Q2. However, there was no growth rate in Q3 alone, indicating a halt in the decline caused by special factors. Global panel companies provide services primarily by collecting data through panels of survey respondents worldwide and providing it to survey companies and business companies to support the collection of specific market and consumer information. The company offers a wide range of sample panels owned by the group to meet various survey needs for global panel companies.

Regarding the full-year forecast for the fiscal year ending December 2024, the consolidated performance forecast was revised on the same day. Revenue is expected to decrease by 0.2% compared to the previous period (previously expected to decrease by 11.1%) to 5.107 billion yen, operating profit is expected to decrease by 40.1% (previously by 47.4%) to 0.264 billion yen, ordinary profit is anticipated to decrease by 40.5% (previously by 49.2%) to 0.255 billion yen, and net income attributable to parent company shareholders is projected to decrease by 38.2% (previously by 44.4%) to 0.19 billion yen.