LIKE, Inc. (2462): FY2025 Results Summary — Net Sales Up 8.0% and Net Income Up 11.0%

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

Note: LIKE, Inc. closes its books at the end of May. The fiscal year covered here is the year ended May 31, 2026, which the company labels “FY05/26”; it is classified as FY2025 on this site, while all period labels in the text and tables below follow the company’s materials.

LIKE, Inc. reported net sales of 67,315 million yen for FY05/26, up 4,979 million yen or 8.0% year on year, with sales growing across all business segments. Operating profit edged up 1.0% to 2,981 million yen, ordinary profit rose 4.9% to 3,668 million yen, and profit attributable to owners of parent increased 11.0% to 2,328 million yen. Alongside the results, the company announced a Long-term Management Plan covering FY05/27 to FY05/35 and a change in its basic dividend policy, raising the target payout ratio from roughly 30% to roughly 40%.

Consolidated Results (Full-Year Actual)

Net sales grew year on year across all business segments. Operating profit grew year on year: while operating profit in the Child-Rearing Support Service declined due to higher personnel costs and food costs driven by rising prices, this was offset by net sales growth in the Comprehensive Human Resources Service and Nursing Care-Related Service businesses. Ordinary profit grew year on year due to an increase in facility subsidy income in the Child-Rearing Support Service (FY05/25: 606 million yen, FY05/26: 782 million yen) in addition to operating profit growth.

Millions of Yen	FY05/25 results	FY05/26 results	YoY Change (Amount)	YoY Change (%)
Net Sales	62,336	67,315	+4,979	+8.0%
Operating Profit	2,951	2,981	+30	+1.0%
Ordinary Profit	3,498	3,668	+170	+4.9%
Profit Attributable to Owners of Parent	2,097	2,328	+231	+11.0%

Against the company’s own forecast, net sales came in 2,115 million yen (3.2%) above plan, helped by the acquisition of unbudgeted subsidy income of approximately 700 million yen in the Child-Rearing Support Service, while operating profit fell 418 million yen (12.3%) short of the forecast. Operating profit in the Comprehensive Human Resources Service and Nursing Care-Related Service businesses was largely in line with plan; profit was impacted by higher personnel costs from strengthened recruitment and increased food costs in the Child-Rearing Support Service.

Millions of Yen	FY05/26 Forecast	FY05/26 Results	vs. Forecast (Amount)	vs. Forecast (%)
Net Sales	65,200	67,315	+2,115	+3.2%
Child-Rearing Support Service	34,600	35,814	+1,214	+3.5%
Comprehensive Human Resources Service	21,450	21,982	+532	+2.5%
Nursing Care-Related Service	9,000	9,382	+382	+4.2%
Other	150	136	-13	-9.1%
Operating Profit	3,400	2,981	-418	-12.3%
Ordinary Profit	4,050	3,668	-381	-9.4%
Profit Attributable to Owners of Parent	2,750	2,328	-421	-15.3%

On the cost side, cost of sales rose 4,527 million yen (8.5%) to 58,055 million yen and the cost of sales ratio rose from 85.9% to 86.2%, a 0.3 pp increase driven by higher personnel and food costs in the Child-Rearing Support Service. SG&A expenses increased 421 million yen (7.2%) to 6,278 million yen.

Millions of Yen	FY05/25	FY05/26	YoY Change (Amount)	YoY Change (%)
Cost of Sales	53,528	58,055	+4,527	+8.5%
SG&A Expenses	5,856	6,278	+421	+7.2%
Personnel Expenses (SG&A)	2,107	2,171	+64	+3.1%
Recruiting and Education Expenses	853	915	+62	+7.3%
Rent Expenses (SG&A)	509	497	-11	-2.2%
Amortization of Goodwill	10	13	+3	+33.3%
Other (SG&A)	2,377	2,679	+302	+12.7%

Segment Results

In the Child-Rearing Support Service, sales rose 8.4% on an increase in official prices and high occupancy at licensed nurseries as well as the posting of deferred subsidies from FY05/25 (FY05/25: 179 million yen, FY05/26: 273 million yen, FY05/27: 89 million yen to be recorded), while operating profit fell 11.9% on higher personnel costs associated with strengthened recruitment, increased food costs, and proactive investments in DX. The Comprehensive Human Resources Service posted sales up 6.5% and operating profit up 11.7%, driven by high-demand outsourcing projects in the Mobile Phone Business and high-unit-price projects during sales seasons in the Logistics and Manufacturing Business. The Nursing Care-Related Service grew sales 9.5% and operating profit 39.8% on stable operation of existing facilities, including Sunrise Villa Kasukabe-higashi, which commenced operations in February 2025.

Segment (Millions of Yen)	Metric	FY05/25	FY05/26
Child-Rearing Support Service	Sales	33,027	35,814
Child-Rearing Support Service	Operating profit	2,175	1,917
Comprehensive Human Resources Service	Sales	20,642	21,982
Comprehensive Human Resources Service	Operating profit	1,500	1,676
Nursing Care-Related Service	Sales	8,564	9,382
Nursing Care-Related Service	Operating profit	265	371
Other Business: LIKE Products	Sales (total)	1,491	1,770
Other Business: LIKE Products	Operating profit	159	215

Within the Comprehensive Human Resources Service, sales by industry show Logistics and Manufacturing as the main growth driver, up 13.4% year on year, with high-unit-price projects for intermittent sales events at major e-commerce clients contributing. The number of dispatched staff rose from 7,137 as of May 31, 2025 to 7,311 as of May 31, 2026.

Millions of Yen	FY05/25	FY05/26	YoY Change (Amount)	YoY Change (%)
Mobile Phone	9,784	10,094	+310	+3.2%
Logistics and Manufacturing	8,273	9,384	+1,110	+13.4%
Others	2,584	2,504	-80	-3.1%
Total	20,642	21,982	+1,340	+6.5%

Operating scale indicators as of April 30, 2026 were 415 childcare facilities with 12,202 children (versus 419 facilities and 11,998 children a year earlier; operations of 9 licensed nurseries were transferred on April 1, 2026), and 26 nursing care facilities with 1,564 residents. The occupancy rate for total nursing care facilities improved from 87.7% as of April 30, 2025 to 92.2% as of April 30, 2026.

FY05/27 Forecast

For FY05/27 the company forecasts net sales of 72,000 million yen, up 7.0% year on year, operating profit of 3,500 million yen, up 17.4%, ordinary profit of 3,400 million yen, down 7.3%, and profit attributable to owners of parent of 2,550 million yen, up 9.5%. Forecast earnings per share is 132.88 yen, against 121.34 yen in FY05/26.

Millions of Yen	FY05/26 Results	FY05/27 Forecast	vs. FY05/26 (Amount)	vs. FY05/26 (%)
Net Sales	67,315	72,000	+4,684	+7.0%
Child-Rearing Support Service	35,814	38,800	+2,985	+8.3%
Comprehensive Human Resources Service	21,982	23,250	+1,267	+5.8%
Nursing Care-Related Service	9,382	9,800	+417	+4.5%
Other	136	150	+13	+10.0%
Operating Profit	2,981	3,500	+518	+17.4%
Ordinary Profit	3,668	3,400	-268	-7.3%
Profit Attributable to Owners of Parent	2,328	2,550	+221	+9.5%
Earnings per Share (yen)	121.34	132.88	–	–

Shareholder Returns

LIKE changed its basic dividend policy. The previous policy targeted a payout ratio of roughly 30% with two dividends per year; the revised policy targets a payout ratio of roughly 40%, maintains or increases the total dividend amount in principle, and keeps two dividends per year (interim and year-end). The dividend slide shows a total of 60 yen per share for FY05/26 (interim 30 yen, year-end 30 yen) and 60 yen per share for FY05/27 (interim 30 yen, year-end 30 yen), against 60 yen for FY05/25 (interim 29 yen, year-end 29 yen, commemorative dividend 2 yen).

Period (as labeled in the materials)	Interim (yen)	Year-end (yen)	Commemorative (yen)	Total (yen)	Earnings per Share (year-end, yen)	Payout Ratio (%)
FY05/25 Actual	29	29	2	60	109.29	54.9
FY05/26 Forecast	30	30	–	60	121.34	49.4
FY05/27 Forecast	30	30	–	60	132.88	45.2

The company also revised its shareholder benefit program starting with the 2026 program, adding electronic money and point services such as Amazon Gift Card, PayPay Money Lite, d POINT, Rakuten Edy, nanaco Gift and WAON POINT e-Gift as exchange options, in addition to existing benefit items. Benefit points are scheduled to be awarded each July to shareholders who hold at least 300 shares and are listed in the shareholder register as of May 31 each year, and the point awarding standards for continuous ownership of one year or more were expanded for holders of 500 or more shares.

Long-term Management Plan and Quarterly Trends

Together with the results, LIKE formulated a Long-term Management Plan with the fiscal year ending May 31, 2035 as the final year. Its vision for FY05/35 is “Aspiring to be a cross-border social infrastructure provider, placing ‘people’ at the core of our business, through childcare, human resources, nursing care, and related services.” The company states it will remain committed to labor-intensive businesses, which are its strength, and will expand its focus beyond the Japanese market to global markets. For details, the materials refer readers to the timely disclosure “Notice Regarding the Formulation of the Long-term Management Plan (FY05/27-FY05/35).”

Results, and operating profit in particular, tend to be heavily weighted toward Q4 due to the characteristics of the Child-Rearing Support Service business. In FY05/26, Q4 accounted for 28.7% of full-year net sales and 61.9% of full-year operating profit.

FY05/26 (Millions of Yen)	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Sales	15,930	15,983	16,111	19,289
Share of full-year sales	23.7%	23.7%	23.9%	28.7%
Operating Profit	466	268	400	1,845
Share of full-year operating profit	15.7%	9.0%	13.4%	61.9%

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.