Daifuku achieves record sales and profit for midterm fiscal period

November 29, 2024

Daifuku, a leading Japanese manufacturer of logistics systems and material handling equipment, held an online financial briefing on November 8 to report its results for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending December 2024 (midterm period, April-September 2024).

Strong order growth driven by key markets

The company has changed its fiscal year-end from March to December, and this year is the first year of the new schedule. Orders received for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending December 2024 (April-September 2024) totaled 333.9 billion yen, an increase of 13.5% compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year (April-September 2023). This growth was driven by strong demand for airport systems in North America, as well as robust performance in general manufacturing, distribution industries, and semiconductor production lines.

Record sales and profitability

Net sales increased 7.6% year-on-year to 302.6 billion yen, while operating income surged 100.1% to 38.1 billion yen. Ordinary income increased 83.3% to 38.1 billion yen, and net income surged 109.2% to 29.7 billion yen, marking record highs for the midterm period. The improved profitability was attributed to successful price adjustments that offset higher material and labor costs.

Full-year profit forecast revised

For the full fiscal year ending December 2024, Daifuku maintained its previous forecasts of 590 billion yen in new orders and 550 billion yen in sales. However, it revised its profit forecasts upward: operating income is now forecast to reach 64 billion yen (up 8 billion yen), ordinary income is forecast to reach 66 billion yen (up 7 billion yen), and net income is forecast to reach 48.5 billion yen (up 6.5 billion yen).

Hiroshi Geshiro, President and CEO of Daifuku, expressed optimism for the coming fiscal year, saying, “We expect solid growth in each business. Semiconductor production lines, including those related to artificial intelligence (AI), are expected to drive performance, especially in the South Korean market”.