Asahi Net (3834): FY2025 Results Summary — Record Sales for the 14th Straight Year, Operating Profit Down 23.6% on Upfront Investment

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

Note: In Asahi Net’s materials, FY2025 refers to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 (April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026) and FY2026 refers to the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027.

Asahi Net, Inc. reported FY2025 net sales of 13,517 million yen, up 439 million yen (+3.4%) year on year, achieving a new record for the 14th consecutive year since FY2012. Operating profit was 1,791 million yen, a decrease of 23.6% year on year, which the company attributes to expenses paid in advance: cost of sales increased due to upfront investment, and SGA expenses increased due to enhanced member acquisition. For FY2026, the company forecasts net sales of 14,000 million yen and operating profit of 1,800 million yen, and plans a full-year dividend of 25 yen.

Operating Results (FY2025 Actual)

Net sales rose to 13,517 million yen (FY2024: 13,078 million yen), with the increase driven by growth in the number of v6 Connect and FTTH connection services. By factor, the year-on-year change in net sales included +254 million yen from v6 Connect, +141 million yen from the Hikari Collaboration Model and +84 million yen from the All Apartments Plan, partly offset by manaba (-16 million yen) and other items. Operating profit fell 553 million yen to 1,791 million yen; the materials break the decline down into the +439 million yen increase in net sales, an increase in SGA of -226 million yen, and increases in cost of sales of -120 million yen (outsourcing etc.), -169 million yen (cost of product sales), -293 million yen (depreciation) and -183 million yen (other costs). The operating profit margin was 13.3% (FY2024: 17.9%). Ordinary profit was 1,821 million yen (-23.0%) and profit was 1,293 million yen (-26.2%).

Item (millions of yen)	FY2025	FY2024	Change	Percentage change
Net sales	13,517	13,078	+439	3.4%
Operating profit	1,791	2,345	-553	-23.6%
Ordinary profit	1,821	2,364	-543	-23.0%
Profit	1,293	1,752	-459	-26.2%
Profit per share	49.65 yen	64.99 yen	―	―

EBITDA (calculated as the sum of operating profit and depreciation) was 3,060 million yen (FY2024: 3,320 million yen), with an EBITDA margin of 22.6% (FY2024: 25.4%). Depreciation rose to 1,268 million yen from 974 million yen, and investments in capital amounted to 2,941 million yen (FY2024: 1,974 million yen). According to the materials, capital investment of 2,000 million yen in software development was made in FY2025. As of March 31, 2026, total assets were 14,515 million yen, net assets were 13,108 million yen and the equity ratio was 90.3% (March 31, 2025: 88.5%).

Results by Service

Net sales from Internet connection services totaled 12,202 million yen (+3.9% year on year). ISP Asahi Net contributed 9,786 million yen (+2.2%), and VNE v6 Connect contributed 2,415 million yen (+11.8%); the company states that v6 Connect sales increased due to increased traffic per line used by partner companies. The number of FTTH (fiber-optic connection) subscribers to ISP Asahi Net’s Internet connection services increased by 16 thousand IDs to 514 thousand IDs as of March 31, 2026, with FTTH driving the increase in the number of Asahi Net subscribers, while ADSL stood at 2 thousand IDs and mobile connection at 46 thousand IDs.

Net sales from Internet-related services were 1,315 million yen (-1.8%), including 560 million yen from the educational support service manaba (-2.9%) and 754 million yen from other services (-0.9%). The number of manaba subscriber IDs decreased by 7,000 year on year to 761,000, and the total number of educational institutions signed up for the service (universities and junior colleges only) was 86. The company aims to raise the competitiveness of its services through development.

Service (millions of yen)	FY2025	FY2024	Change	Percentage change
ISP Asahi Net	9,786	9,578	+208	2.2%
VNE v6 Connect	2,415	2,161	+254	11.8%
Internet connection services total	12,202	11,739	+462	3.9%
manaba	560	577	-16	-2.9%
Other	754	761	-6	-0.9%
Internet-related services total	1,315	1,338	-23	-1.8%

Full-Year Forecast (FY2026)

The company plans growth based on its three businesses: ISP, VNE and manaba. For FY2026, it forecasts net sales of 14,000 million yen (+482 million yen, +3.6%), operating profit of 1,800 million yen (+0.5%), ordinary profit of 1,830 million yen (+0.5%), profit of 1,300 million yen (+0.5%) and earnings per share of 50.17 yen. For ISP Asahi Net, it aims to increase Internet connection service subscribers by enhancing services (including FLET’S Hikari Cross Biz, FLET’S Hikari 25G and GIGA School), strengthening web channels and sales channels for corporate users, and maintaining service quality (it notes receiving the RBB TODAY Award for 12 consecutive years). For VNE v6 Connect, it will maintain cooperative relationships with partner companies and streamline its network infrastructure, and for manaba it lists initiatives aimed at the education quality assurance expected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Item (millions of yen)	FY2026 (Forecast)	FY2025 (Actual)	Change	Percentage change
Net sales	14,000	13,517	+482	3.6%
Operating profit	1,800	1,791	+8	0.5%
Ordinary profit	1,830	1,821	+8	0.5%
Profit	1,300	1,293	+6	0.5%
Earnings per share	50.17 yen	49.65 yen	―	―

Shareholder Returns

The year-end dividend for FY2025 was set at 12.50 yen per share (record date March 31, 2026; total amount 323 million yen; effective date June 24, 2026), in line with the latest dividend forecast released February 13, 2026, bringing annual dividends to 25.00 yen (FY2024: 24.50 yen). The dividend payout ratio was 50.4%, share purchase costs totaled 701 million yen and the total payout ratio was 104.3%. The company has decided to change its dividend policy and continue to pay progressive dividends, and plans a full-year dividend of 25 yen for FY2026 (dividend payout ratio 49.8%).

Item	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	FY2026 (Forecast)
Profit (millions of yen)	1,289	1,752	1,293	1,300
Dividends	23.00 yen	24.50 yen	25.00 yen	25.00 yen
Dividend payout ratio	49.5%	37.7%	50.4%	49.8%
Total amount of share purchase costs	195 million yen	606 million yen	701 million yen	―
Total payout ratio	64.6%	72.1%	104.3%	―

Management Conscious of Cost of Capital and Stock Price

The materials show ROE (return on equity) of 9.9% for FY2025 (FY2024: 13.7%; FY2023: 10.5%), net assets per share of 505.90 yen (FY2024: 487.63 yen), a March closing stock price of 647 yen (FY2024: 677 yen) and a PBR (price to book ratio) of 1.28 (FY2024: 1.39).

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.