Partner Agent, Inc. (6181) |
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Company |
Partner Agent, Inc. |
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Code No. |
6181 |
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Exchange |
TSE Mothers |
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Industry |
Service industry |
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President |
Shigeru Sato |
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Address |
Imasu Osaki Building, 1-20-3 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo |
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Year-end |
End of March |
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URL |
* The share price is the closing price on July 2. The number of shares issued was taken from the brief financial report for the latest period.
ROE and BPS are those for the previous term. |
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*The forecasted values were provided by the company. On January 1, 2017, the company conducted a 3-for-1 stock split. EPS was adjusted retroactively.
*From the term ended March 2016, net income is profit attributable to owners of the parent. Hereinafter the same shall apply. We would like to report an overview of earnings results for Fiscal Year March 2018 of Partner Agent, Inc. |
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Key Points |
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Company Overview |
The company offers various services to support marriage hunting activities. Their key business, "Partner Agent Business," supports the marriage hunting efforts of the registered members. The "Fast Marriage Hunting Business" manages planning and operation of marriage hunting events. The "Solution Business" provides "CONNECT-ship," an open platform that enables the matchmaking between its members and those of other competitors' marriage hunting support services, and to corporations and local governments that are promoting marriage hunting, it organizes marriage hunting events as well as provides a matching system called "parms." The "QOL Business" includes introduction of wedding halls, sales of marriage rings and revision of insurance contracts. The company offers various services based on the corporate philosophy of "Bringing more smiles and more happiness to the world." The company's major feature is its high marriage rate which is achieved by marriage hunting supports through detailed follow-ups by dedicated concierges and unique systems.
1-1 Corporate history
In June 2004, the company was established to start a marriage hunting support business as a 100% subsidiary of Take and Give Needs, Co. Ltd. (4331, Tokyo Stock Exchange 1st Section, hereinafter "T&G"), which is specialized in wedding planning and wedding hall operation. At the time of the company establishment, Mr. Shigeru Sato was appointed to be the President for his abundant experiences and achievements at a major marriage hunting company.
Later, when the business of T&G slowed down and continuous investment became difficult, President Sato, the executive staff and the employees collaboratively purchased the shares of Partner Agent, Inc., and the company became independent from the T&G Group in May 2008.
The customers highly regard the company's high marriage rate, which is the result of "pursuing customers' goals" and the company's business has been growing steadily. It was listed on the TSE Mothers in October 2015.
1-2 Corporate ethos
"Pursuing the customers' goals" has been the philosophy of President Sato since the establishment of the company. Based on this philosophy, the company holds the following mission and visions.
President Sato believes that these philosophies will penetrate into the employees only when they return to and think about the philosophy whenever they encounter specific issues or troubles.
1-3 Market environment
<Situations of unmarried people>
Growing percentage of unmarried people
According to the national census conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the percentage of unmarried people between 25 and 34 years of age has been increasing for both men and women in Japan.
Intention to marry among unmarried people: "Intention to marry" remains at a high level.
According to the "2015 National Institute of Population and Social Security Research
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Fiscal Year March 2018 Earnings Results |
Sales grew, but profit declined as the sales growth could not offset the augmentation of expenses.
Sales were 4,102 million yen, up 7.6% year on year. The sales from the Partner Agent Business, which is its mainstay, decreased, due to the sluggish growth of the number of members, but it was offset by the thriving Fast Marriage Hunting Business, resulting in the growth of total sales. While the increase of members was stagnant, SGA, including the personnel cost for medium/long-term growth and expenditures for opening new stores, such as rents, augmented 2.6% year on year. Accordingly, operating income was 195 million yen, nearly unchanged from the previous term. Net income rose 9.4% year on year to 117 million yen, as ordinary income increased 40.6% year on year to 325 million yen, thanks to the revenue from the subsidy for operating childcare facilities amounting to 123 million yen, but an extraordinary loss of 131 million yen was posted because it became necessary to handle the subsidy equivalent for the already received equipment in impairment accounting, because of the restriction on the transfer of enterprise-led childcare business in the transfer of the childcare business.
Partner Agent Business
As for the advertisement for improving popularity, which has been an issue for the company, the company attempted to improve and enhance its advertisement by changing creative ads in April 2017 and January 2018, but its major indicators decreased from the previous term.
The new creative ads featuring the anime characters Doronjo and Blackjack released in January 2018 are well-received, stopping the decrease of new members and increasing visitors to the website.
The number of married members was the second largest since its business startup, keeping the rate of marriage high.
The company opened five stores: Yaesu, Shibuya, Gifu, Nara, and Hiroshima Stores. Hiroshima Store is the first one in the Chugoku region. All of the stores have a party hall for OTOCON.
Fast Marriage Hunting Business
The cumulative number of attendees in the marriage hunting party "OTOCON" is increasing steadily, and nearly doubled from the previous term (up 98.3%).
In order to meet the strong demand for marriage hunting parties, the company opened Osaka and Sakae (Aichi) Stores as dedicated stores, and also established Yaesu, Shibuya, Gifu, Nara, and Hiroshima Stores as the stores that also offer the Partner Agent Business. Hiroshima Store is the first one in the Chugoku region.
Solution Business
The number of the users of "CONNECT-ship" in the previous term was approximately 20,000. The number of business clients and operating services rose to 6 businesses and 10 services. In April 2018, it grew to 7 businesses and 11 services.
QOL Business
Mebae Childcare Room was opened in Kameido, Roka-koen, Chitose-funabashi, and Yoga, but enterprise-led childcare facilities have been transferred as mentioned later.
Current assets increased 229 million yen to 1,568 million yen, due to the growth of cash and deposits and trade receivables. Noncurrent assets rose 317 million yen to 1,241 million yen, due to the establishment of new systems and equipment investment for opening new stores. Total assets grew 547 million yen to 2,811 million yen. Total liabilities augmented 356 million yen to 1,959 million yen, due to the increase in short and long-term debts, etc. Net assets increased 191 million yen to 852 million yen, due to the posting of net income and the decrease of treasury shares.
As a result, equity ratio was 30.3%, up 1.2 points from the end of the previous term.
Operating CF became positive, due to profit growth, the refund of income tax, etc. The deficit of investing CF expanded due to the augmentation of equipment investment.
Financing CF and the cash position were nearly unchanged.
(4) Topics
◎ Conclusion of capital and business tie-ups with Global Group Corp. Transfer of the enterprise-led childcare business.
In May 2018, the company concluded capital and business tie-ups with Global Group Corp. (first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange, 6189), which operates childcare facilities and offers consulting services for opening nursery schools, and transferred the enterprise-led childcare business.
Reasons for and purposes of the tie-ups
Partner Agent operated the enterprise-led childcare business (nursery schools) to expand its business portfolio, but it concluded that by transferring the business to a large-scale corporate group, such as Global Group, and entrusting it with the operation of the business, it would become possible to stabilize the operation of nursery schools and mitigate the problem of the waiting list for nursery schools.
On the other hand, Global Group had the merit of achieving an organization in which employees can work for a long period of time, by facilitating the resumption of work of nursery staff, who took a childcare leave, by increasing childcare facilities, and enriching its enterprise-led childcare business in response to social needs. The alliance was formed for the purpose of mutually developing their businesses by utilizing their respective specialties.
Outline of the tie-ups and business transfer
In June 2018, Partner Agent transferred all of the enterprise-led childcare business to Global Kids Co., Ltd., which is a 100% subsidiary of Global Group and specializes in the operation of nursery schools and childcare facilities.
From the viewpoint of improving the quality of life of nursery staff, Global Group has the intention to assist them in finding their spouses as part of its welfare program in addition to the support for resumption of work. Partner Agent will cooperate and start matchmaking services targeted at nursery staff, although its release date is still to be determined.
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Fiscal Year March 2019 Earnings Estimates |
Sales and profit estimated to grow
Sales were 4,381 million yen, up 6.8% year on year. Operating income was 269 million yen, up 38.1% year on year.
(2) Future Projects
① Partner Agent Business
<Service>
Under the new service concept, on April 16, 2018, the company launched a team marriage hunting and a smart marriage hunting program. Through these two services, they can support marital success even more effectively.
What is the team marriage hunting?
For the occasional tough times in marriage hunting, a strongly organized team works with a dedicated concierge to provide marriage hunting support.
What is the smart marriage hunting program?
Based on various types of data the company has accumulated while supporting the activities of its many members, a dedicated concierge will guide clients through a marriage hunting program fitted to their needs, and prepare 8 matchmaking variations. By applying scientific approaches such as the Plan/Do/Check/Act (PDCA) cycle to marriage hunting, smart marriage hunting is possible.
(Introduction of AI)
Also, from June 2018, with the goal of providing higher quality marriage hunting support services, the company began utilizing "KIBIT," an artificial intelligence engine developed independently by FRONTEO, Inc. (based in Tokyo), to aid in the matching process for marriage support services.
The concierge supports marriage hunting through "team marriage hunting" and the "smart marriage hunting program." By adding in the use of AI, there is a synergistic effect with the concierge, improving matching accuracy and consequently leading to greater client satisfaction.
Using KIBIT
① KIBIT reads and analyzes the free text of members' self-introduction and profile information (hobbies, values, etc.).
② Using the accumulated marriage data, KIBIT scores match candidates and creates a list.
③ Taking into account the members' wishes and appeal points, the concierge will use the list to make an introduction.
<Marketing and shop openings>
The company continues to invest in mass marketing to improve awareness, and promotes marketing policies linked with the Fast Marriage Hunting Business.
In particular, as a result of advertising that emphasized the engagement rate, the company reflected on its inadequacies in meeting the needs of expanding marriage hunting market, and will consider ways to appeal with more intuitive services.
The company will put new shop openings on hold this term and focus instead on growing existing shops.
<Main Indicators>
Figures are expected to exceed the previous term, with 8,632 annual members, 12,551 registered members, and 3,299 married members.
The decreasing number of registered members will begin increasing, but because increases in members who cancel membership after engagement temporarily lag behind, the engagement rate is expected to stay flat.
② Fast Marriage Hunting Business
In order to make the current process even more successful, the company will plan and hold new parties to capture demand.
In addition to renovating existing locations (4 currently scheduled), they will increase the number of party venues and decide whether to open new venues based on each situation.
The number of party attendees in the current term is expected to increase 30% year on year to 357,696.
Also, as introduced in the previous report, in November 2017, the company invested 100 million yen into Mrk & Co., the company which provides the matching application "Dine" in the USA and Canada in consideration of the expanding online matchmaking market. "Dine" is awarded the App Store Top Featured app in both countries, and Mrk & Co. plans to offer an online matching application for the Japanese smartphone market in the future.
Partner Agent supported them with this investment, and conducted the first collaborative project, "OTOCON" in December 2017. In the future, the company will strengthen this collaboration so that it leads to business expansion, including marriage hunting services and the release of their own matchmaking application.
③ Solution Business
◎ CONNECT-ship
Began charging for the service from April 2018.
In the event that a contact (marriage meeting) has been set up between Partner Agent and another company, Partner Agent will receive a marriage meeting fee from the other party. In the event that two other companies are involved, Partner Agent will receive fees from both parties.
Currently, the number of contacts established monthly by Partner Agent has increased to about 29,000.
The company strives to raise the number of users and other companies using the service by continuously aiming for "an open platform with the most successful matchmaking in Japan." They will strengthen cooperation with other companies, maximizing marriage opportunities and client success.
◎ Marriage hunting support solution for local government
The company will focus on planning, introduction, and support for the marriage matching system "parms."
In June 2018, the company began offering "parms" in Saitama Prefecture.
The birthrate in Saitama is lower than the national average, and the percentage of unmarried people has risen year after year for both men and women. In order to improve this situation, Saitama Prefecture established the "SAITAMA Encounter Support Center" to stop the declining birthrate.
In addition to offering "parms," the company also provides operational support for the center.
They are also considering launching a service for local governments that publishes information about marriage hunting parties.
④ QOL Business
The company plans to expand their service area and number of services offered in order to increase the number of users. Continuing to improve services for married and soon-to-be-married members, the company partnered with Recruit Zexy Navi Co., Ltd. to provide nationwide services such as "Wedding venue introduction service," "In-house bridal ring sales," and "Reviewing insurance contracts based on changes in life stages."
In addition, due to diverse values and their relation to marriage, demand for marriages that forego the wedding reception and instead have a party with close friends and relatives are increasing, and as a new business, the company is considering managing venues and handling party and event services for such people as they make their marriage debut to their friends.
As stated above, the operation of all of the childcare facilities in the childcare business has been transferred. The company will begin a new marriage hunting support service for nursery staff.
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Conclusions |
The business performance did not reach the revised forecast, but as shown in the graph, both sales and profit bottomed out in the 4th quarter of FY March 2017, and the sales for the 4th quarter of the previous term were the largest in the past three years.
The total number of new members in the Partner Agent Business for the full term dropped from the previous term, but the quarterly number has recovered to the level three quarters before, seemingly thanks to the effects of new creative ads.
The company thinks that its popularity is still to be improved, and it will implement various measures this term, too.
As CONNECT-ship became a fee-charging service, we would like to watch major quarterly indicators, sales and profit, while paying attention to how quickly the company will recover to the level in FY March 2016, which saw the best performance.
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<Reference: Regarding corporate governance> |
◎ Corporate Governance Report
The latest update: June 26, 2018
<Reasons for Non-Compliance with the Principles of the Corporate Governance Code (Excerpts)>
The company states that it will carry out all basic principles of corporate governance code as a company listed on the TSE Mothers.
Disclaimer
This report is intended solely for information purposes, and is not intended as a solicitation for investment. The information and opinions contained within this report are made by our company based on data made publicly available, and the information within this report comes from sources that we judge to be reliable. However, we cannot wholly guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the data. This report is not a guarantee of the accuracy, completeness or validity of said information and opinions, nor do we bear any responsibility for the same. All rights pertaining to this report belong to Investment Bridge Co., Ltd., which may change the contents thereof at any time without prior notice. All investment decisions are the responsibility of the individual and should be made only after proper consideration.Copyright (C) 2018 Investment Bridge Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. |