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Konica Minolta Reports Losses, But Sees Improvements for First Quarter

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Konica Minolta of Japan today reported financial results for its first quarter, which consisted of the three months that ended on June 30, 2024.

In a nutshell, the company reported losses, but the losses were smaller than losses for the first quarter a year ago, and revenue was up year-over-year. The company’s office and production print businesses did well, but results were dragged down by losses for the company’s Imaging Solutions and Industry Businesses.

Konica Minolta’s irst-quarter revenue was ¥286.21 billion ($1.90 billion), up 7.4 percent year-over-year, and operating profit was a loss of ¥0.3 billion ($1.99 million), but an improvement versus a loss of ¥4.4 billion ($29.21 million) for the first quarter a year ago. Net profit was a loss of ¥3.45 billion ($22.90 million), but an improvement versus a net loss of ¥5.5 billion ($36.51 million) for the first quarter a year ago. 

(Note that effective this year, Konica Minolta has reclassified its businesses into five segments: Digital Workplace Business, Professional Print Business, Industry Business, Imaging Solutions Business, and Precision Medicine Business.)

For the first quarter, there were year-over-year revenue increases for all businesses, which the company said was partly due to the impact of depreciation of the Japanese yen.

Profit was up mainly due to increased revenue generated by the Digital Workplace Business, Professional Print Business, and the Precision Medicine Business.

Digital Workplace Business revenue was ¥152.2 billion ($1.01 billion), up 6.1 percent year-over-year, and operating profit was ¥4.4 billion ($29.21 million), up 2.5 percent year-over-year.

Professional Print Business revenue was ¥67.6 billion ($448.78 million), up 12.4 percent year-over-year, and operating profit was ¥1.6 billion ($10.62 million), up 78.9 percent year-over-year.

The company reported operating profit losses for its Industry and Imaging Solutions Businesses, but an operating profit for its Precision Medicine business versus losses last year (as well as increased revenue for Precision Medicine).

Digital Workplace Business

Revenue for the Digital Workplace Business’s office unit contributed to overall revenue, and its business contribution profit increased accordingly, with revenue for the office unit up year-over-year.

Sales of A3 MFPs were as follows: sales of color models, monochrome models, and all models were at 90 percent, 102 percent, and 94 percent of sales for the same period a year ago, respectively. Hardware revenue was at the same level as the previous year.

Non-hardware revenue, such as consumables and services, saw an overall increase. By region, revenue in some regions, such as China, Australia, and India, was up, while revenue stopped declining in the United States and decreased in Japan and Europe. In the DW-DX unit, which mainly offers IT services, revenue increased year-over-year.

Professional Print Business

For the Production Print business, revenue was up year-over-year. Sales of color models, monochrome models, and all models reached 95 percent, 88 percent, and 93 percent of sales for the first quarter last year, respectively, with hardware revenue increasing.

Among these, sales of Heavy Production Print (HPP) with the fastest print speeds, which the company focuses on, were up 152 percent year-over-year. Revenue for non-hardware revenue, such as consumables and services, revenue increased year-on-year.

Regionally, the economic downturn led to a decline in customer print volumes in Europe, but demand saw print-volume increases in the United States, India, and China. 

Forecast

For its fiscal year that will end on March 31, 2025, Konica Minolta is forecasting revenue of ¥1.60 trillion ($10.62 billion), which would be flat year-over-year; operating profit of ¥13 billion ($86.29 million), down 50.2 percent year-over-year; and net profit of 0 (zero).

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