In September 2018, we announced our new medium-term management plan, a five-year plan through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 (five-year target). Looking back on our progress up to the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, we have achieved certain results, including sales, operating income, ROE, dividends, and other financial KPIs at an achievable level. However, the company has not achieved significant results in the transformation of its business model, as it has not developed software that will be the axis of future growth, and the stock sales ratio is well below the target level of 70%.
There are two reasons for this lack of progress. First, there has not been sufficient communication with the executive team of the Group's management strategy regarding the background and goals of the business model transformation that we aimed to achieve. Another reason is that the Group companies were required to simultaneously accelerate the growth of existing businesses and create new growth businesses, both of which were not achieving their lofty goals.
For this reason, we began formulating the next medium-term management plan as early as the second half of 2021, reconfirmed the group management strategy executive team and the group management philosophy, and summarized what the group should do to realize the vision as the Avant Group's materiality: "Become a software company that helps increase corporate value. To realize this materiality, the Group has set the following goals. Through discussions among the Group's executive management strategy team and the Board of Directors on specific measures to realize this materiality, we have come to the conclusion that it is effective to reorganize the Group into separate organizations to accelerate the growth of existing businesses and create new growth businesses, and have decided to reorganize the Group effective October 1, 2022. The reorganization will take effect on October 1, 2022, and the new Avant Group will be responsible for the business activities of the Group.
Although there is a risk that the spread of coronavirus infection, which has yet to be resolved, and the situation in Ukraine may indirectly affect our group's performance, we believe that the needs of our group's business are increasing, as more and more companies are looking to strengthen data-based management and group governance. We believe that the needs of the Group's business are increasing. By clarifying the direction of each operating company and expanding the means of response through the Group's reorganization, we will be able to respond to these growing needs better than ever before, and we aim to realize further sales growth. At the same time, in order to maximize the benefits of the reorganization, we plan to aggressively implement future-oriented expenditures, including a review of the Group's branding and a fundamental revision of our product development strategy, including the liquidation of low-margin products. As a result, we expect to achieve net sales of 21,800 million yen and operating income of 3,100 million yen for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.
In accordance with our existing dividend policy, we will raise the ratio of dividends to net assets, always being conscious of exceeding the average of all listed companies, while at the same time striving to maintain stable dividends (in principle, dividends per share should not fall below the level of the previous fiscal year). The Company plans to propose a resolution at the general meeting of shareholders to be held on September 27, 2022, to pay an ordinary dividend of 12 yen plus a commemorative dividend of 1 yen for the 25th anniversary of the Company's founding, amounting to 13 yen.
Regarding dividends for the next fiscal year, there is no change in the above policy itself, and while remaining conscious of the average of all listed companies and the results of the current fiscal year with respect to the ratio of dividends to net assets, we forecast dividends of 15 yen per share to achieve one of the targets set in the current medium-term management plan for the final year.
（Disclosed on April 28, 022）
※From the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, the name of each segment has been changed to "Group Governance Business," "Digital Transformation Business," and "Outsourcing Business.
Expect to maintain the pace of revenue growth, but income will decline due to upfront investments
- The company positions the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 as a preparation for the start of the next medium-term management plan, and the upfront investment phase will continue.
- Although the company expects to maintain the pace of sales growth in all segments, it forecasts a decrease in profit due to an increase in personnel expenses resulting from aggressive hiring, an increase in expenses accompanying organizational restructuring, and expenses to prepare the environment for accelerating the shift to cloud, including discontinuation of low-margin products and projects in existing businesses.
The information contained in this material regarding the business outlook and other forecasts and strategies etc. are forward-looking statements and are determined within the range that could normally be predicted based on the information reasonably available to the Company at the time of preparation of this material. Investors should be aware of the risks, however, that actual results may differ from the business prospects described in the material due to the occurrence of extraordinary circumstances that cannot usually be predicted or the occurrence of results that cannot usually be predicted. The Company will proactively disclose information that is considered material to investors, but investors should be advised not to make judgment based entirely on only the business prospects described in this material. This material should not be copied or transferred for any purpose without permission of the Company.
