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Profit Slides in Ricoh’s Second Quarter, But Revenue Up for Quarter and First Half

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Ricoh Company of Japan today released financial results for its second quarter and the first half of its fiscal year, with both ending on September 30th.

In general, it was a challenging second quarter, but there was some good news: revenue was up for both the second quarter and first half, and for the first half (the first and second quarters), profit was up 4.7 percent year-over-year. 

When it came to office printing, A3 MFP sales were up 8 percent year-over-year for the first half, but Ricoh noted some lower sales revenue due to a switch to A4 MFP production.

Second Quarter

Ricoh’s second-quarter revenue was ¥577.9 billion ($3.82 billion), up 12.4 percent year-over-year; operating profit was ¥9.3 billion ($61.58 million), down 32.1 percent year-over-year; and profit was ¥6.8 billion ($45.03 million), down 6.9 percent year-over-year.

First Half

Revenue for Ricoh’s first half was ¥1.12 trillion ($7.41 billion), up 14.3 percent year-over-year; operating profit was ¥19.5 billion ($129.14 million), down 16.6 percent year-over-year; and profit was ¥15.6 billion ($103.32 million), up 4.7 percent year-over-year.

Digital Services Business

Within the Digital Services business, Office Services continued to drive profit growth, reaching Ricoh’s operating profit target. Additionally:

  • Sales of hardware in the Office Printing segment were up 8 percent year-over-year, but non-hardware sales were down 2 percent year-over-year
  • Office Services sales increased primarily for IT and application services Communication services grew, and recurring revenues rose 21 percent year-over-year.

Digital Products Business 

Ricoh’s Digital Products business is involved with production and manufacturing of office MFPs, with sales to the Digital Services business and OEM partners. Sales were up, but earnings were down due to MFP production adjustments, product-mix changes, and slow document-scanner sales. Additionally:

  • This group missed its profit target because internal sales declined due to A3 MFP production adjustments and product mix changes due to increased A4 MFP production.
  • Document-scanner sales were less than forecast because of weak economic conditions in the Americas. 

Graphic Communications

Revenue for this Ricoh business, which includes production and industrial printing, was up 10.6 percent year-over-year and operating profit was up 36.67 percent year-over-year . Additionally:

  • For the Commercial Printing segment, hardware sales benefited from ongoing digital printing investment demand, and from new products. Non-hardware sales experienced continued growth, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
  • For the Industrial Printing segment, demand remained strong for inkjet print heads, with revenue continuing to grow.

Ricoh’s other businesses are its Industrial Solutions and Other businesses.

Sales and profit were down for the Industrial Solutions business, due to inventory adjustments and weak demand for the Thermal segment. Sales were up for its Other business, but profit was down.

Forecast

For its complete fiscal year that will end on March 31, 2024, Ricoh increased its forecast for revenue. The company is forecasting revenue of ¥2.33 trillion ($15.43 billion), up 9.2 percent year-over-year; operating profit of ¥70.0 billion ($463.55 million), down 11.1 percent year-over-year; and profit of ¥54.3 billion ($359.58 million), down 11.1 percent year-over-year.

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