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In the Music Business, despite an increase in net sales from successful live concerts, merchandising, and e-commerce, operating profit decreased. This was caused by a lower gross profit rate resulting from changes in the sales mix and aggressive investment in IP creation.
In the Anime & Visual Content Business, net sales increased due to higher non-package sales, including box office revenue from film titles and events. However, operating profit declined chiefly due to changes in the sales mix.
In the Digital Business, although net sales decreased following the dissolution of the joint venture agreement for digital video distribution services, operating profit increased, mainly because of revenues from commissioned operations for the same services.
Despite two consecutive years of hosting an anime event in Saudi Arabia, Other Businesses experienced a decline in both net sales and profit. This was mainly due to a decrease in the amount of commissioned work.

As we enter the second year of our medium-term management plan "avex vision 2027," we are making steady progress in discovering, nurturing, developing, and acquiring IP in each field. These efforts appear to be consistently yielding tangible results.

We will continue to invest in IP creation to build a business that grows over the medium to long term, aiming to achieve our targets of 15 billion yen in operating profit and a 15% return on equity by the fiscal year ending March 2027.

In pursuit of our medium-term management plan "avex vision 2027," we restructured our group companies in August 2023 to further strengthen our business framework. Under the new structure, Avex Entertainment Inc. oversees the Music and Management Businesses, and Avex Pictures Inc. supervises the Anime & Visual Content Business, both as intermediate holding companies. By delegating authority to their respective operating companies and clarifying their responsibilities, the new structure enables speedy decision-making. This restructuring is aimed at achieving our growth strategy and expanding our business in the medium to long term.

Our performance in the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2024 exceeded the full-year forecast, but we will keep the full-year forecast unchanged as we continue to invest for medium-to-long-term growth. We project an operating profit of 2 billion yen and a profit attributable to owners of parent of 2.2 billion yen.

In accordance with our payout policy of maintaining a consolidated payout ratio of at least 35% and paying a minimum annual dividend of 50 yen per share, we have set an interim dividend of 25 yen per share. We expect to pay a year-end dividend of 25 yen per share, making an annual dividend of 50 yen per share.