Nittetsu Mining (1515): FY2025 Results Summary — Record Sales and Operating Profit on Higher Copper Prices

This article is based on publicly available IR materials and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any specific securities.

Note: The company labels the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 as “FY25” and the following fiscal year as “FY26”; this article keeps the company’s labels in the text, tables and segment data.

Nittetsu Mining reported net sales of 209.7 billion yen and operating profit of 18.8 billion yen for FY25, with the company stating that both sales and operating profit grew year on year and hit record highs. Operating profit was driven mainly by higher copper prices and lower production costs in the mining side of the Metallic Minerals business, as well as by Real Estate, which sold property held for sale. For FY26, the company forecasts net sales of 232.5 billion yen but a decline in operating profit to 14.0 billion yen, mainly due to upfront investments, the absence of FY25 gains from real estate sales, and a continued cost-leading phase at the Arqueros Mine, which is expected to commence operations between July and September 2026.

Consolidated Results (FY25 Actual)

Sales grew mainly due to higher domestic copper prices in the smelting side of the Metallic Minerals and higher copper prices in the mining side. Operating profit and ordinary profit rose mainly due to higher copper prices and lower production costs in the mining side of the Metallic Minerals and sales growth in Real Estate, while profit attributable to owners of parent increased as the rise in ordinary profit more than offset higher tax expenses. The equity ratio declined due to an increase in interest-bearing debt resulting from bank loans for the development of the Arqueros Mine. The company notes that it conducted a 5-for-1 share split effective October 1, 2025, and that earnings per share are calculated assuming the split had been effective at the beginning of the previous fiscal year.

Item (Billions of JPY unless noted)	FY24	FY25	Change
Net sales	196.7	209.7	12.9
Operating profit	10.2	18.8	8.5
Ordinary profit	11.4	20.2	8.7
Profit attributable to owners of parent	9.0	14.0	5.0
Dividend per share (JPY)	44.8	71.4	26.6
Copper price (￠/lb)	425.00	490.59	65.59
FX (JPY/USD)	152.58	150.77	(1.81)
Equity ratio	58.9%	50.7%	(8.2%)
ROIC	4.3%	6.7%	2.4%
ROE	6.4%	9.4%	3.0%

Against the forecasts issued on February 6, 2026, net sales came in 4.7 billion yen higher at 209.7 billion yen, operating profit 2.3 billion yen higher at 18.8 billion yen, and both ordinary profit and profit attributable to owners of parent 3.5 billion yen higher at 20.2 billion yen and 14.0 billion yen respectively. EPS was 178.37 yen versus the 133.45 yen forecast, and the dividend per share was 71.40 yen versus the 53.40 yen forecast. The company attributes the sales upside mainly to Metallic Minerals (+3.8 billion yen) and Machinery & Environmental Engineering (+1.2 billion yen), and the profit upside to better byproduct revenue in smelting, delays in survey and exploration costs, higher FX gains at an overseas subsidiary and better equity-method investment income.

Segment Results

In Nonmetallic Minerals, sales and operating profit grew mainly due to price increases in limestone, the company’s major product, and increased revenue at subsidiaries. In Metallic Minerals, smelting sales increased as higher domestic prices offset lower volume in electrolytic copper and gold, with operating profit up on improved byproduct revenue and favorable FX despite worsening TC/RC, while mining sales increased on higher metal prices and better TC/RC, with lower production costs contributing to operating profit growth. Machinery & Environmental Engineering sales grew on favorable sales trends in the Environmental Division while operating profit remained flat mainly due to rising costs in water treatment chemicals, Real Estate sales and operating profit increased on the sale of property held for sale, and Renewable Energy sales increased on favorable performance in the Geothermal Division with operating profit up on lower maintenance costs.

Segment	Metric	FY24	FY25	Change
Mineral Resources: Nonmetallic Minerals	Sales	63.3	66.9	3.5
Mineral Resources: Metallic Minerals	Sales	113.9	120.2	6.2
Machinery & Environmental Engineering	Sales	14.7	15.9	1.1
Real Estate	Sales	2.8	4.7	1.8
Renewable Energy	Sales	1.7	1.8	0.1
Total	Sales	196.7	209.7	12.9
Mineral Resources: Nonmetallic Minerals	OP	7.2	8.0	0.7
Mineral Resources: Metallic Minerals	OP	0.9	6.7	5.7
Machinery & Environmental Engineering	OP	2.0	2.0	0.0
Real Estate	OP	1.6	3.3	1.6
Renewable Energy	OP	0.4	0.6	0.1
Eliminations / adjustments	OP	(2.1)	(1.9)	0.1
Total	OP	10.2	18.8	8.5

On the balance sheet, total assets rose 70.2 billion yen to 310.4 billion yen as of March 31, 2026, with property, plant and equipment up 29.0 billion yen to 113.3 billion yen and long-term loans payable up 34.9 billion yen to 44.7 billion yen. Net assets increased 15.6 billion yen to 167.6 billion yen, of which equity capital was 157.3 billion yen.

FY26 Forecast

For FY26 the company forecasts net sales of 232.5 billion yen (+22.7 billion yen) and operating profit of 14.0 billion yen (-4.8 billion yen). Sales growth is led by Metallic Minerals (+24.4 billion yen) on higher domestic prices in electrolytic copper in smelting and, in mining, higher copper prices at the Atacama Mine plus operation commencement at the Arqueros Mine, partly offset by Real Estate (-2.0 billion yen) on the lack of the sale of property held for sale. Operating profit is expected to fall on a continued cost-leading phase at the Arqueros Mine, higher costs from labor cost revisions and from ore body variability and deeper mining at the Atacama Mine, the absence of the real estate sale, and a 2.0 billion yen increase in survey and exploration costs booked in eliminations/adjustments. Ordinary profit is forecast to decline 8.7 billion yen on higher interest expenses and lower equity-method earnings. The assumptions are a copper price of 550.00 cents per pound and an FX rate of 155.00 yen per US dollar.

Item (Billions of JPY unless noted)	FY25 results	FY26 forecasts	Change
Net sales	209.7	232.5	22.7
Operating profit	18.8	14.0	(4.8)
Ordinary profit	20.2	11.5	(8.7)
Profit attributable to owners of parent	14.0	12.0	(2.0)
EPS (JPY)	178.37	152.51	(25.86)
Dividend per share (JPY)	71.40	62.0	(9.4)
Copper price (￠/lb)	490.59	550.00	59.41
FX (JPY/USD)	150.77	155.00	4.23

By segment, FY26 sales are forecast at 66.4 billion yen for Nonmetallic Minerals, 144.7 billion yen for Metallic Minerals, 16.8 billion yen for Machinery & Environmental Engineering, 2.6 billion yen for Real Estate and 1.8 billion yen for Renewable Energy. Segment operating profit is forecast at 8.4 billion yen, 5.8 billion yen, 1.6 billion yen, 1.6 billion yen and 0.3 billion yen respectively, with eliminations/adjustments of (3.9) billion yen. On the sensitivity analysis, a 10 cents per pound appreciation in the copper price adds 2.08 billion yen to net sales and 0.45 billion yen to operating profit, while a 5 yen per US dollar depreciation adds 3.88 billion yen to net sales and 0.19 billion yen to operating profit.

Shareholder Returns

The dividend policy under the Third Medium-Term Management Plan is to pay stable dividends over the long term while maintaining an optimal balance between equity and shareholder returns, with a target consolidated payout ratio of 40% and an absolute lower limit for the dividend of 34 yen per share (adjusted for the 5-for-1 stock split effective October 1, 2025), with the dividend paid based on whichever is higher. The dividend per share was 71.4 yen in FY25 against 44.8 yen in FY24, and is forecast at 62.0 yen for FY26. The company also states that it prioritizes growth investments and financial soundness, with any surplus allocated to enhancing shareholder returns, and lists share buyback and cancellation among its capital optimization measures.

Item (JPY)	FY24	FY25	FY26 (forecast)
Dividend per share	44.8	71.4	62.0
EPS	109.35	178.37	152.51

Management Conscious of Cost of Capital and Share Price

The company states that PBR exceeded 1.0x in FY25, standing at 1.24x, with ROE of 9.4% and PER of 13.9x (PBR and PER calculated on the year-end stock price, ROE reflecting FY25 full-year results). Under capital optimization, it is accelerating the reduction of cross-shareholdings: based on a reduction policy of a minimum target of 10.0 billion yen to be sold during FY25 to FY27, it aims to reduce the balance to less than 20% of net assets by the end of FY27, and 3.1 billion yen was sold in April. On the reduction of cost of capital, a stock split and the expansion of the shareholder benefit program led to a more than threefold year-on-year increase in the number of shareholders, from 6,417 people at the end of FY24 to 20,682 people at the end of FY25, with average daily volume rising from 248,037 stocks in FY24 to 636,280 stocks in FY25. The number of individual meetings with investors and others totalled 64 in FY25 versus 61 in FY24.

On the Third Medium-Term Management Plan indicators, ROIC was 4.9% in FY23, 4.3% in FY24 and 6.7% in FY25, and is planned at 4.2% for FY26, while ROE was 4.8% in FY23, 6.4% in FY24 and 9.4% in FY25, and is planned at 8.0% for FY26. The company discloses WACC of 5.5% and 5.8% and a cost of capital (CAPM base) of approximately 8% for the Third Medium-Term Management Plan period, and identifies key issues for the Fourth Medium-Term Management Plan including a review of cost of capital and ROIC targets, disclosure of an ROE target, disclosure of the optimal capital structure, and preparation for disclosing investment disciplines, real estate holding policies and portfolio management policies.

Growth Investment: Arqueros Mine

Development of the Arqueros Mine has entered its final phase, with operations scheduled to start during July to September 2026 followed by full-scale operations within a few months; in FY27 copper production volume is expected to be more than double under a two-mine structure. The Arqueros Mine is a 15-year project with annual production volume of 15 thousand tons on a copper equivalent basis, CAPEX of USD 486 million, operational costs (C3) of 318 cents per pound and a Company interest of 80%. The operating Atacama Mine, in which the Company holds a 60% interest, started operations in June 2003, has annual production volume of 11 thousand tons on a copper equivalent basis and CAPEX of approximately 13.3 billion yen. The Fourth Medium-Term Management Plan starts in FY27, and the company states that by stabilizing operations at the Arqueros Mine and advancing initiatives to enhance corporate value, it will focus on strengthening its growth foundation.

This article is an analysis based on publicly available information and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any specific securities. Investment decisions are your own responsibility.