Kakaku com : FY3/2018 2Q Consolidated Financial Results

This is an abridged translation of the original Japanese document and is provided for informational purposes only. If there are any discrepancies between this and the original, the original Japanese document prevails.

November 2, 2017

Kakaku.com, Inc. Consolidated Earnings Report for the Second Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2018

Stock listings: Tokyo Stock Exchange (First Section) Securities code: 2371

URL: http://corporate.kakaku.com/?lang=en

Representative: Shonosuke Hata, President and Representative Director Information contact: Ichiro Sakuta

Senior Managing Executive Officer, Administrative Division General Manager

Telephone [phone]

Scheduled dates

Filing of statutory quarterly financial report: November 9, 2017 Dividend payout: December 1, 2017

Supplementary materials to financial results available: Yes

Fiscal year-end earnings presentation held: Yes (for institutional investors and analysts)

(Amounts of less than one million yen are rounded.)

1. Consolidated Financial Results for the Second Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2018

1. Consolidated Operating Results (% = year-on-year change)

   Revenue		Operating profit		Profit before income taxes		Profit for the period		Profit attributable to owners of the parent company		Total comprehensive income for the period
   ¥ million	%	¥ million	%	¥ million	%	¥ million	%	¥ million	%	¥ million	%
   Q2 FY2017	21,669	4.1	10,492	3.6	10,478	3.4	7,151	2.1	7,139	2.2	7,279	4.4
   Q2 FY2016	20,822	-	10,131	-	10,131	-	7,007	-	6,982	-	6,969	-

   Basic earnings per share	Diluted earnings per share
   Q2 FY2017	¥	¥
   	33.32	33.30
   Q2 FY2016	32.06	32.03

2. Consolidated Financial Position

Total assets	Total equity	Total equity attributable to owners of the parent company	Total equity attributable to owners of the parent company ratio
As of September 30, 2017	¥ million	¥ million	¥ million	%
	42,468	35,405	35,171	82.8
As of March 31, 2017	42,481	35,380	35,158	82.8

1. Dividends

   Annual dividends
   Q1	Q2	Q3	Year End	Total
   FY2016	¥	¥	¥	¥	¥
   	-	14.00	-	14.00	28.00
   FY2017	-	16.00
   FY2017 (Forecast)	-	16.00	32.00

   (Note) Revisions to most recent dividend forecasts: None

2. Consolidated Earnings Forecast for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2018 (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018)

(% = year-on-year change)

Revenue		Operating profit		Profit before income taxes		Profit attributable to owners of the parent company		Basic earnings per share
¥ million	%	¥ million	%	¥ million	%	¥ million	%	¥
Full year	48,000	10.4	23,300	8.6	23,250	8.4	15,850	7.0	74.14

(Note) Revisions to most recent dividend forecasts: None

*Notes

1. Changes in Significant Subsidies during the Period: None

2. Accounting policy changes and accounting estimate changes:

3. Changes in accounting policies required by IFRS: No

4. Changes other than the above 1): None

5. Changes in accounting estimates: None

6. Number of shares issued (common stock)

8. Number of shares issued at end of period (treasury stock included): September 30, 2017: 215,005,000 shares

   March 31, 2017: 218,160,100 shares

9. Number of shares held in treasury at end of period: September 30, 2017: 1,230,491 shares

   March 31, 2017: 1,668,325 shares

10. Average number of shares outstanding during the period: September 30, 2017: 214,248,769 shares

September 30, 2016: 217,800,665 shares

* Quarterly consolidated earnings reports are exempt from quarterly review procedures. *Appropriate Use of Earnings Forecasts and Other Important Information

(Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements)

The above forecasts, which constitute forward-looking statements, are prospects based on information available to the Company as of the date of the release of this document. Actual results may differ materially from the above forecasts due to a range of factors.

(Application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS))

The Group has applied the International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") from the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. In addition, data for the second quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 and for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 have been presented in accordance with the IFRS.

Contents

1. Explanation of Operating Results and Financial Position 2

2. Explanation of Operating Results 2

3. Explanation of Financial Position 3

4. Explanation of Consolidated Earnings Forecast and Other Forward-looking Statements 3

5. Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements 4

6. Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 4

7. Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income 6

8. Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income 7

9. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity 8

10. Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 10

11. Notes on the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements 11

12. (Notes regarding the going concern assumption) 11

    (Significant subsequent events) 11

    (First-time adoption) 12

    1

    1. Explanation of Operating Results and Financial Position
13. Explanation of Operating Results

    The Kakaku.com Group (the "Company") adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) effective from the first quarter of its current fiscal year. Financial statement data presented herein for the year-earlier period and previous fiscal year have been restated on an IFRS basis to facilitate comparative analysis.

    The Company's operating results for the six months ended September 30, 2017, are as follows.

    Consolidated revenue grew 4.1% year on year to 21,669 million yen, driven mainly by growth in tabelog's revenue from restaurants and kakaku.com's service business revenue.

    Consolidated operating profit grew 3.6% year on year to 10,492 million yen, mainly as a net result of revenue growth, a year-on-year reduction in advertising agency commissions paid and growth in advertising expenses.

    Consolidated profit before income taxes grew 3.4% year on year to 10,478 million yen, mainly as a net result of operating profit growth and a net loss on equity-method investments.

    Consolidated profit attributable to owners of the parent company grew 2.2% year on year to 7,139 million yen.

    Operating results (after intersegment eliminations) are presented below by business segment.

14. Internet Media Business

    The Internet media business's revenue grew 3.8% year on year to 21,125 million yen while its operating profit grew 3.1% year on year to 10,345 million yen in the six months ended September 30, 2017.

    (kakaku.com)

    kakaku.com's revenue grew 1.5% year on year to 10,266 million yen in the six months ended September 30, 2017.

    In kakaku.com's shopping business, revenue was down 2.1% year on year to 4,409 million yen under the weight of sluggish durable goods demand. In kakaku.com's service business, revenue grew 10.0% year on year to 4,118 million yen, with both the personal finance and telecom businesses performing well. kakaku.com's advertising business recruited new clients by pitching external distribution advertising but its revenue fell 7.2% year on year to 1,739 million yen as a result of non-recurrence of large spot advertising orders booked last year.

    kakaku.com had 54.12 million monthly unique users1 in September 2017.

    (tabelog)

    tabelog's revenue grew 6.3% year on year to 9,563 million yen in the six months ended September 30, 2017.

    tabelog increased the total number of restaurants using its fee-based services as new fee plan2 subscribers by launching omni-channel sales of fee-based services under the new fee plans from June and new restaurant listings from August. At September 30, new fee plan subscribership totaled 9,200 restaurants, up from 5,700 as of March 31. tabelog expects its new fee plan subscribership to increase to 13,000 restaurants by November. tabelog's revenue from restaurants grew 14.9% year on year to 6,932 million yen, driven by growth in not only fee-paying restaurants but also online reservation bookings and average fee revenue per restaurant. tabelog's revenue from individual users decreased 8.1% year on year to 1,573 million yen amid a decline in users of alliance partners' services. In its advertising business, tabelog released new advertising products heading into the second half of the fiscal year. In the six months ended September 30, however, its advertising revenue was down 15.5% year on year to 1,058 million yen as a result of delays in making sales pitches and booking advertising orders.

    tabelog had 104.50 million monthly unique users1 in September 2017.

    (New Media)

    The new media business's revenue grew 5.0% year on year to 1,295 million yen in the six months ended September 30, 2017.

    4travel grew its revenue through growth in sales of 4travel Global WiFi contracts to overseas travelers. Meanwhile, Kinarino increased its advertising revenue by releasing new premium advertising products and improving the quality of its advertising sales pitches.

15. Finance Business

    The finance business's revenue increased 14.9% year on year to 544 million yen while its operating profit surged 56.1% year on year to 145 million yen in the six months ended September 30, 2017.

    Consolidated subsidiary Kakaku.com Insurance, Inc., benefited from growth in applications for both life and non-life insurance coverage in its insurance agency business and growth in data-driven advertising revenue.

16. The number of monthly unique users is the number of browsers that visited the site, not the number of cumulative visits, during a month. Multiple visits by a single browser are counted as one user. Effective from November 2016, the Company changed its sites' traffic measurement logic in conjunction with diversification of mobile webpages.

17. tabelog's new fee plans are restaurant service plans that aim to drive customer traffic to restaurants by promoting online reservations. The plans have fee structures that combine a monthly base fee with a variable fee based on online reservation bookings.

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