Starzen : Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2021(Japanese Accounting Standards)

Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2021

(Japanese Accounting Standards)

		May 11, 2021
Name of Listed Company: Starzen Co., Ltd.	Listing: Tokyo Stock Exchange
Securities code: 8043	URL: https://www.starzen.co.jp/en/
Representative: Kazuhiko Yokota, Representative Director, President & CEO
Contact: Takahiro Horihata, Executive Officer, General Manager of Group Controller Div.	Tel: [phone]
Scheduled date of Ordinary General Shareholders' Meeting: June 29, 2021

Scheduled date of start of dividend payment: June 30, 2021

Scheduled filing date of Securities Report: June 29, 2021

Supplementary materials for the financial results: Yes

Investor conference for the financial results: Yes (For Analysts)

							(Amounts of less than million yen are omitted.)
1. Results of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021 (From April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021)
(1) Consolidated Operating Results			(Figures in percentages denote the year-on-year change.)
		Net sales		Operating income	Ordinary income	Profit attributable to
				owners of parent
	Year ended	Million yen		%	Million yen	%	Million yen	%		Million yen	%
	349,242		-0.6	6,686	58.1		8,607	48.5		6,921	297.1
	March 31, 2021
	Year ended	351,356		0.0	4,229	-11.7		5,795	-9.7		1,743	-61.8
	March 31, 2020
	(Note) Comprehensive	income: Year	ended March 31, 2021: 7,924 million yen (+592.3%)
		Year ended March 31, 2020: 1,144 million yen (-74.1%)
		Earnings per share	Diluted earnings per	Return on equity	Ordinary income	Operating margin
					share				ROA
	Year ended		Yen		Yen		%			%		%
	354.91		－		12.4			6.7		1.9
	March 31, 2021
	Year ended	89.47		84.52		3.3			4.6		1.2
	March 31, 2020

(Reference) Equity in earnings of associate: Year ended March 31, 2021: 1,234 million yen Year ended March 31, 2020: 654 million yen

(Note) The Company split its stock two for one effective April 1, 2021. Earnings per share and diluted earnings per share were calculated as if the stock split had occurred on April 1, 2019.

(2) Consolidated Financial Position

	Total assets	Net assets	Net worth*/total assets	Net assets per share
	Million yen	Million yen	%	Yen
As of March 31, 2021	131,726	59,125	44.9	3,031.43
As of March 31, 2020	125,932	52,310	41.5	2,680.00

(Reference) Net worth*: As of March 31, 2021: 59,122 million yen As of March 31, 2020: 52,310 million yen

* Net worth consists of shareholders' equity and accumulated other comprehensive income

(Note) The Company split its stock two for one effective April 1, 2021. Net assets per share were calculated as if the stock split had occurred on April 1, 2019.

(3) Cash flows

	Cash flows from	Cash flows from	Cash flows from	Cash and cash equivalents
	operating activities	investing activities	financing activities	at the end of year
Year ended	Million yen	Million yen	Million yen	Million yen
11,084	(3,445)	(2,001)	14,530
March 31, 2021
Year ended	1,459	(3,412)	890	8,896
March 31, 2020

2. Dividend Payments

		Dividends per share		Total	Payout ratio	% of net
			assets
						dividends	(consolidated)
	First quarter	Second quarter	Third quarter	Year-end	Annual	(consolidated)
Year ended	Yen	Yen	Yen	Yen	Yen	Million yen	%	%
－	－	－	110.00	110.00	1,073	61.5	2.1
March 31, 2020
Year ended	－	－	－	130.00	130.00	1,267	18.3	2.3
March 31, 2021
Year ending
March 31, 2022	－	－	－	65.00	65.00		28.2
(Forecast)

(Note) The Company split its stock two for one effective April 1, 2021. The annual dividends per share for the years ended March 31, 2020, and March 31, 2021, are dividends per pre-split share; the (forecasted) annual dividend per share for the year ending March 31, 2022, is a dividend per post-split share.

3. Consolidated Financial Forecast (From April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022)

(Figures in percentages denote the year-on-year change.)

	Net sales		Operating income	Ordinary income	Profit attributable to	Earnings per share
								owners of parent
	Million yen		%	Million yen	%	Million yen	%	Million yen	%	Yen
Full year	360,000		3.1	5,000	-25.2	6,500	-24.5	4,500	-35.0	230.73

(Note) The Company split its stock two for one effective April 1, 2021. Forecasted earnings per share factor in the stock split.

Notes:

(1) Significant changes of subsidiaries during the fiscal year under review (changes in specific subsidiaries

accompanied by a change in the scope of consolidation):

None

Newly consolidated: ― companies (company name(s)); Deconsolidated: ― companies (company name(s))

(2) Changes in accounting policies, changes of accounting estimates and restatement
(i) Changes in accounting policies due to amendments to accounting standards:	None
(ii) Other changes in accounting policies:	None
(iii) Changes in accounting estimates:	None
(iv) Restatements:	None

(3) Numbers of issued shares (common stock)
(i) Issued shares (including treasury	Year ended	19,522,552 shares	Year ended	19,522,552 shares
shares) at period-end:	March 31, 2021	March 31, 2020
(ii) Treasury shares at period-end:	Year ended	19,414 shares	Year ended	3,798 shares
March 31, 2021	March 31, 2020
(iii) Average issued shares during period:	Year ended	19,502,846 shares	Year ended	19,482,534 shares
March 31, 2021	March 31, 2020

(Note) The Company split its stock two for one effective April 1, 2021. Issued shares (including treasury shares) at period-end, treasury shares at period-end and average issued shares during period were calculated as if the stock split had occurred on April 1, 2019.

(Notes) This financial summary is not subject to a quarterly review by certified public accountants or audit firms. Explanation about the proper use of financial forecasts and other special notes

(Notes concerning forward-looking statements, etc.)

Forward-looking statements or projections made in these materials, including financial forecasts, are based on information currently available to the Company and certain assumptions judged to be reasonable by management. Actual results may differ materially from these forecasts due to various factors. For more information on assumptions underlying the Company's financial forecast and use of said forecast, see "(4) Outlook" under "1. Summary of Operating Performance and Financial Position" on page 4 below.

(How to obtain content of financial results briefing)

The Company plans to host a financial results webcast for analysts on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 and promptly thereafter publish the webcast's presentation materials on its website (in Japanese only).

Contents

1. Summary of Operating Performance and Financial Position…………………………………………………………………	2
(1) Operating performance……………………………………………………………………………………………………	2
(2) Financial position…………………………………………………………………………………………………………	3
(3) Cash flows…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………	3
(4) Outlook……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………	4
2. Basic Policy of Selection of Accounting Standards…………………………………………………………………………	4
3. Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes………………………………………………………………………………	5
(1) Consolidated balance sheets………………………………………………………………………………………………	5
(2) Consolidated statement of income and consolidated statement of comprehensive income………………………………	7
(3) Consolidated statement of changes in equity……………………………………………………………………………	9
(4) Consolidated statement of cash flows……………………………………………………………………………………	11
(5) Notes to consolidated financial statements………………………………………………………………………………	13
(Notes on going concern assumption) …………………………………………………………………………………	13
(Segment information) ……….…………………………………………………………………………………………	13
(Per-share information) …………………………………………………………………………………………………	13
(Significant subsequent events) …………………………………………………………………………………………	14
(Additional information)…………………………………………………………………………………………………	14

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1. Summary of Operating Performance and Financial Position

(1) Operating performance

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, the Japanese economy remained challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it showed signs of recovery at times, forward visibility remained murky, clouded by recurring COVID-19flare-ups.

In the food industry, consumption patterns have changed drastically in the wake of pandemic-induced lifestyle changes. The industry has had to adapt to a new operating environment marked by contraction in restaurant demand and growth in at-home demand.

The meat industry likewise remained beset by a high degree of uncertainty stemming largely from abrupt changes in meat products' sourcing and sales environments.

Against such a backdrop, the Group has been pursuing initiatives to achieve further growth while responding to the challenges posed by COVID-19. Such initiatives, which date back to April 2020, include consolidating sales organizations, strengthening logistics functions, expediting decision-making and streamlining operations. Meanwhile, the Zeus DX Project, a Group-wide business process reengineering program launched in the previous fiscal year, also has been proceeding apace. Additionally, to fulfill its mission of stably supplying food even amid the pandemic and to better satisfy customers' needs and wishes, the Group upgraded its hygiene management and deployed personnel more flexibly while placing priority on worker safety.

As a result of such efforts, the Group achieved major profit growth in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, despite a downtick in net sales. Specifically, consolidated net sales decreased 0.6% to 349,242 million yen, consolidated operating income grew 58.1% to 6,686 million yen, consolidated ordinary income increased 48.5% to 8,607 million yen and consolidated profit attributable to owners of parent soared 297.1% to 6,921 million yen, all year on year.

Operating performance by segment was as follows:

Meat-related Business

The meat-related business's net sales declined 0.6% year on year to 346,336 million yen.

Operating performance by division was as follows:

(Meat)

The domestic business was heavily impacted by a divergence between at-home demand and restaurant demand, with the former growing while the latter shrank. On balance, sales volume and net sales were both roughly flat year on year. Gross profit increased year on year, largely by virtue of improvement in the domestic beef sales environment and efforts to increase sales of products for at-home consumption, despite continued profitability headwinds due to contraction in restaurant demand, particularly in the imported chicken market.

Operating performance by category was as follows:

Domestic meat sales volume was roughly unchanged from the previous fiscal year, bolstered by generally robust pork sales volume, which offset a decrease in chicken sales volume due largely to avian influenza. Net sales were likewise nearly flat year on year despite a decrease in beef sales prices stemming from contraction in demand from both restaurants and foreign tourists. Lower beef sales prices were offset by higher sales prices for pork and chicken, demand for both of which was buoyant. Gross profit grew year on year, driven largely by improvement in the beef sales environment.

Imported meat sales volume and net sales were both down year on year as a result of a large decline in imported chicken sales volume, mostly in the restaurant channel. Gross profit increased, boosted by solid sales of beef and pork for at-home consumption.

The export business to Europe and the Americas were down sharply in the first quarter in the wake of the global demand downturn triggered by the pandemic, but they recovered from the second quarter onward. Additionally, overall export volume grew year on year, mainly as a result of an intensified focus on exporting to Taiwan, which has been successful at containing the pandemic. While net sales also grew, their growth was dampened by a decline in average export prices for domestic beef.

Overall, the Meat Division's net sales were down 1.0% year on year at 277,118 million yen. Its gross profit, however, increased year on year.

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