Nippon Paint Holdings (4612): FY2025 Results Summary — Record Revenue and Operating Profit on AOC Contribution

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

Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. (4612) reported record-high revenue and operating profit for FY2025. Note: the company has a December fiscal year-end, so FY2025 refers to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. Consolidated revenue rose 8.3% year on year to 1,774.2 billion yen (+11.4% on a comparable basis assuming the change of the agent model for the trading business in China’s decorative business had been implemented in FY2024), and adjusted operating profit surged 37.8% to 274.9 billion yen, lifting the adjusted operating profit margin by 330 bps to 15.5%. The company attributes the growth to strong M&A contributions — notably AOC, the global specialty formulator consolidated from March 2025 — together with volume growth, adjacencies expansion, and improvements in raw material cost contribution (RMCC) and SG&A efficiency.

Consolidated Results (Full-Year Actual)

The company primarily uses “Adjusted Profit” — profit from consolidated financial statements excluding one-off or non-recurring items — to explain operating results. For FY2025, adjusted operating profit reached 274.9 billion yen (+37.8% YoY), of which organic growth contributed +9.7% and M&A contributed +28.1%. Gross profit margin improved 220 bps to 42.3%. On a reported basis, operating profit was 257.1 billion yen and profit attributable to owners of parent was 179.8 billion yen. Operating profit, net profit, and EPS each outperformed the FY2025 guidance disclosed in April 2025 (244.0 billion yen, 162.0 billion yen, and 69.0 yen, respectively).

Item (Billion yen)	FY2025	FY2024	YoY
Revenue	1,774.2	1,638.7	+8.3% (+11.4% comparable basis)
Gross profit	750.2	657.4	+14.1%
Gross profit margin	42.3%	40.1%	+220 bps
Adj operating profit	274.9	199.6	+37.8%
Adj OP margin	15.5%	12.2%	+330 bps
Adj EPS (yen)	86.0	60.4	+42.3%
EPS (yen)	76.7	53.6	+43.0%

Segment Results

By segment, Japan revenue rose 1.1% to 205.4 billion yen with adjusted operating profit up 9.7% to 22.0 billion yen (a 7.6 billion yen gain on the transfer of non-current assets at the Tokyo Office is not included in adjusted operating profit). NIPSEA revenue declined 2.9% to 887.5 billion yen (+2.2% on a comparable basis) while adjusted operating profit rose 15.6% to 151.2 billion yen; within this, NIPSEA China posted revenue of 470.7 billion yen and adjusted operating profit of 69.2 billion yen, achieving profitability improvement and operating profit growth despite weak market conditions, and NIPSEA Except China posted revenue of 416.8 billion yen and adjusted operating profit of 81.8 billion yen. DuluxGroup revenue rose 1.7% to 405.2 billion yen (in DGL (Europe), a 5.5 billion yen goodwill impairment loss was recorded for Cromology Group; not included in adjusted operating profit). Americas revenue fell 3.1% to 119.0 billion yen with adjusted operating profit down 16.7%. AOC, consolidated from March 2025, contributed 10-month revenue of 157.3 billion yen and adjusted operating profit of 53.7 billion yen at a 34.1% adjusted OP margin.

Segment (Billion yen)	FY2025 Revenue	FY2024 Revenue	Revenue YoY	FY2025 Adj OP	FY2024 Adj OP	Adj OP YoY
Japan	205.4	203.1	+1.1%	22.0	20.0	+9.7%
NIPSEA	887.5	914.4	-2.9% (+2.2% comparable)	151.2	130.8	+15.6%
DuluxGroup	405.2	398.5	+1.7%	44.8	43.9	+2.2%
Americas	119.0	122.7	-3.1%	6.7	8.1	-16.7%
AOC (10-month earnings)	157.3	–	–	53.7	–	–
Adjustments	–	–	–	-3.6	-3.2	–
Total	1,774.2	1,638.7	+8.3%	274.9	199.6	+37.8%

FY2026 Forecast

For FY2026 (the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026), the company guides for continued record-high revenue and operating profit. Revenue is forecast to grow c.+8% to 1,920.0 billion yen, leveraging competitive advantages across regions and businesses despite a soft market outlook. Adjusted operating profit is expected to expand c.+10%, driven by RMCC improvement and partially offset by increased SG&A, with the adjusted OP margin showing a modest uptick. By business, the company expects AOC to return to +LSD (low single-digit) revenue growth following the market bottoming out, NIPSEA China to deliver +HSD (high single-digit) growth in TUC revenue and profits against market growth of -LSD, and NIPSEA Except China to deliver stable growth exceeding +HSD across markets.

Item (Billion yen)	FY2026 Forecast	FY2025 Results	YoY
Revenue	1,920.0	1,774.2	+8.2%
Adj operating profit	–	274.9	c.+10%
Operating profit	283.0	257.1	+10.1%
OP margin	14.7%	14.5%	+20 bps
Profit attributable to owners of parent	198.0	179.8	+10.1%
Adj EPS (yen)	–	86.0	c.+10%
EPS (yen)	85.3	76.7	+11.4%
Annual dividend (yen)	17	16	+1

Shareholder Returns

The annual dividend for FY2025 was 16 yen per share (interim 8 yen, year-end 8 yen). For FY2026, the annual dividend is planned to be raised by 1 yen to 17 yen per share. The company is also conducting a share buyback announced with an acquisition period from October 10, 2025 to February 28, 2026: up to 35,000,000 shares of common stock (1.5% of total issued shares excluding treasury stock) and up to 30 billion yen, through market purchases on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under a discretionary trading agreement. As of January 31, 2026, cumulative treasury stock acquired was 25,541,400 shares for a total acquisition amount of 25,705,565,874 yen, representing progress of 72.98% on a share basis and 85.69% on a value basis (as published on February 12, 2026).

Topics

The company held its second “IR DAY” briefing for institutional investors on November 26, 2025, with sessions on AOC’s competitive advantage and business strategy (presented by AOC CEO Joe Salley and CFO Bob Seidel), NIPSEA Group business strategy covering NIPSEA China and the Türkiye Group (presented by Director, Representative Executive Officer & Co-President Wee Siew Kim), and M&A strategy (presented by Director, Representative Executive Officer & Co-President Yuichiro Wakatsuki). In addition, in FY2025 the company again received high ratings from three leading Japanese evaluators of IR and sustainability websites, including the Grand Prize in Daiwa Investor Relations’ 2025 Internet IR Award for the fifth consecutive year (2nd place among 4,122 companies).

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.