We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our shareholders and investors for their continued support and consideration.

Looking back at the first quarter of the fiscal year ending January 2025, while the domestic economy is expected to see a gradual recovery supported by improvements in employment and income conditions, as well as the effects of various policies, there are risks that could weigh on Japan's economy. These include the impact of global monetary tightening, concerns about the outlook for China's economy, and the potential downturn in overseas economic conditions. Moreover, careful attention must be paid to rising prices, developments in the Middle East, and fluctuations in financial and capital markets. Additionally, we must remain mindful of the economic impact of the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Amid such economic conditions, our group continues to globally promote the Service Lifecycle Solutions business, which provides services such as quality consulting, game debugging, third-party software verification, environment setup and migration support, monitoring, customer support, fraud prevention, and BPR support. These services cover the planning, development, release, operation, and improvement stages of the lifecycle of our clients' services and products. During the first quarter of this fiscal year, Pole To Win Co., Ltd. announced the development of the project management tool "FACT," which aims to standardize operations, enhance efficiency, ensure quality, and create new business opportunities through big data analysis, as well as support talent development. Additionally, HIKE Inc. signed an industry-academia collaboration agreement with Seojeong University in South Korea, with the goal of jointly operating educational programs and acquiring talent in the animation and gaming sectors.

In terms of performance, overseas solutions drove sales growth, resulting in increased revenue. On the expense side, although costs related to the integration of domestic solution offices have significantly decreased, business restructuring costs for overseas solutions and additional costs for joint game development in the media and content sector were incurred. As a result, for the first quarter of the consolidated cumulative period, net sales amounted to ¥11,963,587 thousand (a 9.5% increase compared to the same period last year). However, we recorded an operating loss of ¥123,048 thousand (compared to an operating profit of ¥298,010 thousand in the same period last year), an ordinary loss of ¥91,548 thousand (compared to an ordinary profit of ¥331,085 thousand in the same period last year), and a quarterly net loss attributable to parent company shareholders of ¥404,501 thousand (compared to a quarterly net profit of ¥97,512 thousand in the same period last year).

Additionally, our company has adopted a fundamental policy of providing stable shareholder returns, with a target of maintaining a minimum DOE (Dividend on Equity) of 3% and a total return ratio of 30% or more, aiming to increase shareholder returns in the future. Until now, we have distributed an annual year-end dividend. However, to enhance opportunities for profit distribution to shareholders and to reward long-term shareholders with continuous holdings of our stock, we have decided to implement an interim dividend starting from the fiscal year ending January 2025. While we had initially forecasted a year-end dividend of ¥16 per share for the current period, we have revised our dividend forecast to include an interim dividend of ¥8 and a year-end dividend of ¥8, for a total of ¥16.

Our group will continue to enhance synergies between our companies both domestically and internationally, striving to remain your best partner by providing highly convenient support services. At the same time, we will actively promote further globalization, expand our business areas, and work tirelessly to increase corporate value.
We sincerely ask for your continued support and guidance in the future.