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TOP Message

We aim to achieve growth by assessing the market in the new era, enhancing the performance of existing restaurants and opening new ones.

Makoto Tani  Chairman and CEO
Minoru Kanaya  President and COO
SKYLARK HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Thank you very much for your continued support.
We would like to report on the financial results for the fourth quarter of FY2023 announced on February 14, as well as our future management strategies.

Results in FY2023 and Forecasts for FY2024

For FY2023 period, revenue was 354.8 billion yen (up 51.1 billion yen year on year), business profit was 16.4 billion yen (up 25.1 billion yen year on year). Operating profit was 11.7 billion yen (up 17.3 billion yen year on year), and net income was 4.8 billion yen (up 11.2 billion yen year on year). Following the May 2023 downgrading of COVID-19 to a class 5 infectious disease under the Infectious Diseases Law, the restaurant industry experienced a steady recovery of demand, and the Group’s reform of its earnings structure produced consistent results. Business profit, operating profit and net income all exceeded the forecasts.

During FY2024, we will implement management strategies that focus on enhancing the performance of existing restaurants and opening new ones. We forecast that revenue and profit will increase this fiscal year. Revenue, business profit, operating profit and net income are forecast to be 375 billion yen, 17 billion yen, 15 billion yen and 7.5 billion yen, respectively.

*Business profit is calculated by deducting the cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses from revenue.

Business Environment, Growth Strategies

It is expected that the prices of food ingredients, the cost of energy and personnel expenses will continue to rise. Meanwhile, wage increases resulting from the spring wage negotiations this year are likely to exceed the previous year. As a result of wage increases, there are indications of healthy inflation with the expansion of business.

Based on this understanding, we have determined our primary growth strategies for FY2024 and going forward: (1) achieve growth with our existing restaurants, (2) open new restaurants with a focus on accelerating the opening of restaurants in Japan and actively opening restaurants overseas, (3) pursue M&A activities, (4) move forward with digital transformation, (5) invest in human capital and (6) promote ESG practices. We aim to enhance our corporate value through the implementation of these strategies.

(1) Achieving the growth of our existing restaurants

(i) Menu and promotion strategies

Our restaurant business caters to customers with diverse needs through two types of business. The first is the Family Dining business, where Gusto, Bamiyan and other brands which have many restaurants nationwide cater to a range of needs at reasonable prices. The second is the Casual Dining business, which includes highly specialized restaurants such as Syabu-Yo and Musashino Mori Coffee. These restaurants offer an enhanced dining experience that only a restaurant can provide at a good value.

Gusto introduced reasonably priced small plates last November, providing good value and the fun of choosing menu items. As a result, the average check has risen. Towards the end of last year, Syabu-Yo offered an all-you-can-eat raw snow crab option at the unprecedentedly high price of over 7,000 yen. The option sold much faster than expected and sold out earlier than planned. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience we may have caused. We have realized that customers will support good value for money even if the price is high. Each restaurant brand will remember this lesson when they formulate their menu policies.

Regarding promotion strategies, we utilized popular characters from manga such as Spy × Family  to entice customers. We discovered that using these characters effectively motivates new guests and infrequent visitors to come to our restaurants. In addition to promotions using discount coupons, we will launch promotions to encourage new and repeat customers to visit our restaurants. These promotions will include joint sales promotions with companies that share rewards points.

(ii) Brand conversions, remodeling, installation of guidance signs

The Company changed the brands of 41 restaurants last year, taking advantage of its strength of having a range of brands. These conversions resulted in a 150.2% increase in sales. We plan to change the brands of 70 to 80 restaurants this fiscal year. This is expected to increase sales approximately 1.7 billion yen. We will continue to invest in the remodeling of restaurants. In FY2023, we remodeled 98 restaurants, leading to a 4.6% increase in sales. This fiscal year, we plan to remodel 70 to 80 restaurants. This remodeling is expected to generate an additional 300 million yen in sales.

In the course of remodeling our stores, we have found that there is a high correlation between store visibility and sales effectiveness. We plan to install roadside guidance signs for 500 restaurants this fiscal year. This initiative is expected to increase sales by 900 million yen. We also plan to replace the “In” signs at the parking facilities of around 500 restaurants. We have replaced the “In” signs at some pilot restaurants, which have resulted in an increase of the visibility of the approach to the parking facility. Based on test results, we expect that replacing the signs will generate an additional 700 million yen in sales.

(iii) Improving services and increasing sales on weekends

We have seen a steady recovery of demand in the restaurant business, especially on weekends. We have discovered that we can increase weekend sales by replacing customers promptly and reducing wait times. We will review staff assignments on weekends at all restaurants. We will improve recruitment and education to assign staff appropriately and maximize weekend sales.

We are promoting digital transformation at our restaurants and improving customer service. We are promoting tableside payment and introducing self-checkout machines at more restaurants to reduce payment time and complaints.

(2) Opening new restaurants and overseas expansion

(i) Openings in Japan

The Company operates 3,000 restaurants across the country, with a focus on roadside locations. In the past few years, we have opened new restaurants in large retail facilities and close to stations in metropolitan areas. They have had more customers than planned, and we have found that there are large markets in these areas. From FY2024, we will accelerate the opening of restaurants in areas with a high density of commercial establishments, near stations in regional cities and in areas along private railway lines in other urban areas. We will increase the variety of restaurant brands that are available in regional cities. We are planning to open approximately 300 restaurants in the next three years.

(ii) Overseas expansion

The company currently operates 68 restaurants in Taiwan, four restaurants in Malaysia, and one restaurant in the United States.

In Taiwan, the number of restaurants and sales have been steadily increasing. Last year, a new plant began operating, laying the foundation for the operation of 100-200 restaurants.
In Malaysia, we plan to open two restaurants this fiscal year. We will make the country a base for expanding into other Southeast Asian countries.
In the United States, our operations and earnings structure have improved. Sales hit a record high last December. We plan to open two restaurants this fiscal year.

As in Japan, we will accelerate the opening of restaurants overseas. We are planning to open about 100 new restaurants by 2027.

(3) M&A

We will expand our business in earnest through mergers and acquisitions in the next three years. We will actively consider potential options. Our policy is to support the development of the businesses of the existing restaurant chains that need resources to open new restaurants and restaurant startups that have a good vision and are considering expanding their business. Utilizing our infrastructure and strengths, we will establish win-win relationships with these businesses.

(4) Advancing DX

We are also continuing to actively invest in DX. We are developing a self-checkout system that will replace the existing staffed register. We plan to implement the self-checkout system at all restaurants* by the first half of 2024. More than 80% of customers at the stores where the system has been introduced use self-checkout, which also contributes to improving the productivity of our employees.
Skylark restaurants now offer tableside payment through the Skylark App, with rewards points available.

We are moving forward with digital transformation at the headquarters. We automated operations using generative AI. Last year, the number of DX projects implemented increased 67% year on year. This contributed to our improvement of productivity.

*All Family Dining restaurants, including Gusto, Bamiyan and Jonathan's restaurants, and all Shabu-Yo restaurants

(5) Investing in human capital

The Company believes that the active participation of diverse human resources and the growth and increased engagement of employees are necessary for the enhancement of corporate value. Based on this belief, the Company practices human capital-oriented management.

At the Company, we believe in equal treatment and promotion opportunities for all employees, regardless of gender, nationality, race, religion or disability. We are committed to empowering women employees and are implementing systems that cater to them in the different stages of their life including childbirth. We also actively seek to hire women in their 40s and 50s as regular employees. Additionally, we actively employ elderly people and foreign nationals.

We provide various forms of training to enhance employees’ skills. On-the-job training provides a basis for further training, including group training, online training, on-demand training and e-learning programs, which are provided for different purposes. To enhance the educational atmosphere, we have converted the training manuals into digital formats and created instructional videos. Moreover, we have translated them into various languages. We have also established a training center. Our goal is to provide employees with the maximum number of opportunities to increase their skills.

We emphasize the creation of a work environment that enables our employees to have job satisfaction. To achieve this goal, we conduct employee surveys and utilize the survey results. We also take steps to ensure proper labor management and implement health and productivity management initiatives.

(6) ESG initiatives

The Company believes that ESG practices are the foundation of its growth strategies. Management promotes these practices as one team.

We have set the goal of reducing our environmental impact by 50% (compared to 2018) by 2030, and we are implementing initiatives for decarbonization, the reduction of plastic usage, and the reduction of food loss. We have established key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the progress of our initiatives, including the implementation of solar power generation at our restaurants and plants, the reduction of the usage of disposable plastic, and the reduction of food waste. We are making progress as per our plans in all these initiatives.

Our active disclosure of environmental data and enhancement of the organizational structure for promoting ESG practices have been well received. As a result, our major ESG scores, such as our CDP and FTSE scores, have been rising yearly.

After the Noto Peninsula Earthquake this January, we raised money urgently to provide food to the affected areas. Our support is ongoing.

We are committed to fulfilling our mission as a restaurant company. We will contribute to creating a sustainable society through environmental protection and community activities.


We ask for the continued support of all our stakeholders moving forward.

Makoto Tani  Chairman and CEO
Minoru Kanaya  President and COO
SKYLARK HOLDINGS CO., LTD.
February 14, 2024

FY2023 Q4 Skylark Financial Results Presentation Material