Career Design Center (2410) Q3 FY2026 Earnings Deep Dive: Record-High Performance and Enhanced Shareholder Returns

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Q3 FY2026 earnings results for Career Design Center Co., Ltd. (Securities Code: 2410), covering performance highlights, segment trends, cost structure optimization, plans for Prime Market compliance, and proactive shareholder return policies.

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1. Earnings Summary: Record-High Sales and Profits Across All Levels

For the cumulative third quarter of the fiscal year ending September 2026, Career Design Center achieved record-high sales and profits for a Q3 cumulative period , despite lingering uncertainty in the external recruitment environment.

Key performance indicators are as follows:

• Net Sales : 14,243 million JPY (95.8% of plan, +1.7% YoY)
• Ordinary Profit : 1,336 million JPY (96.3% of plan, +9.1% YoY)
• Quarterly Net Income : 915 million JPY (101.2% of plan, +9.0% YoY)

Compared to initial projections, sales and ordinary profit tracked slightly below plan due to a gradual decline in the active job opening ratio and stricter corporate hiring standards. However, thanks to agile cost control and improved productivity, quarterly net income exceeded the plan (904 million JPY).

[Slide Commentary: Importance of the Earnings Summary]

The Earnings Summary (PAGE_2) above is the most critical slide, consolidating the overall picture of these results and management's decision-making. It highlights the achievement of record-high sales and profits in response to a changing business environment, while clearly stating the change in shareholder return policy ( a significant dividend increase from 125 JPY to 160 JPY per share ). Furthermore, with a new Medium-Term Management Plan scheduled for release in November 2026 , the company is clearly at a pivotal juncture for restructuring its mid-to-long-term growth story.

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2. Cost Structure Optimization and Profitability Management

During the cumulative third quarter, the company maintained strict expenditure control aligned with the progress of net sales.

• Cost of Sales : 6,989 million JPY (97.8% of plan)
• Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Expenses : 5,929 million JPY (93.5% of plan)
  • Advertising Expenses : 1,531 million JPY (91.7% of plan)
  • Personnel Expenses : 3,227 million JPY (94.2% of plan)
  • Other Expenses : 1,170 million JPY (93.8% of plan)

By verifying advertising effectiveness and improving productivity, the company successfully kept advertising and personnel costs below plan, compensating for the shortfall in sales and contributing to the maintenance of high profit margins. This demonstrates the effectiveness of their flexible cost management system tailored to each business division.

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3. Segment Overview: Portfolio Performance and Structural Reform

Reviewing each business segment, middle-tier recruitment and IT services are driving performance, while strategic shifts, such as the portfolio review of the new graduate business, are underway.

[Slide Commentary: Importance of Segment Sales]

The slide "Q3 Cumulative Earnings Overview (Net Sales)" (PAGE_5) clearly illustrates the varying growth speeds and shifts in the profit structure across the company's diversified business groups (Media, General Recruitment, Middle-tier Recruitment, New Graduate, IT Dispatch, etc.). By listing progress against the plan, one can understand at a glance which businesses are driving growth and which are struggling or undergoing restructuring.

Detailed Analysis by Business

1. Media Business

   • Net Sales : 4,318 million JPY (93.7% of plan, 97.3% YoY)
   • Ordinary Profit : 576 million JPY (103.1% of plan, 116.4% YoY)
   • Trends : While direct sales remained steady, sales fell below plan due to a decline in some agency channels. However, effective control of advertising and personnel costs led to ordinary profit exceeding the plan with high margins. The number of new member registrations (116.5% / 109.6% YoY) and applications for 'type' and 'Woman's Career type' increased significantly , strengthening the platform's ability to attract users.

2. Recruitment Business (Middle-tier)

   • Net Sales : 375 million JPY (113.0% of plan, 134.5% YoY)
   • Ordinary Profit : 102 million JPY (176.4% of plan, 350.6% YoY)
   • Trends : By focusing on acquiring registrants with advanced skills and experience, the company saw an increase in high-unit-price matches , significantly exceeding both sales and profit plans. This segment showed notable improvements in per-capita productivity and placement rates.

3. Recruitment Business (General)

   • Net Sales : 1,940 million JPY (92.0% of plan, 91.9% YoY)
   • Ordinary Profit : 245 million JPY (81.5% of plan, 87.7% YoY)
   • Trends : Placements in the female-focused segment fell below plan. While temporary productivity declines due to stagnant Career Advisor (CA) headcount and personnel composition changes had an impact, the company is working to improve profitability by enhancing matching accuracy between job seekers and job openings.

4. IT Business (Fixed-term/Indefinite Dispatch)

   • IT Dispatch (Fixed-term) Sales : 6,309 million JPY (98.5% of plan, 104.0% YoY) / Ordinary Profit : 366 million JPY (107.1% of plan)
   • IT Dispatch (Indefinite) Sales : 596 million JPY (101.0% of plan, 215.8% YoY) / Ordinary Profit : -100 million JPY (Plan: -117 million JPY)
   • Trends : Fixed-term dispatch saw steady growth in active staff to 1,703, with increased placement fees from staff transitioning to permanent employees boosting profits. The indefinite-term IT engineer business is progressing well with recruitment, reaching 137 active staff. While still in the upfront investment phase, losses are narrowing.

5. Structural Reform of New Graduate Business (Termination of New Graduate Recruitment)

   • New Graduate Media : Sales 584 million JPY (95.5% of plan), Ordinary Profit 193 million JPY (89.7% of plan)
   • New Graduate Recruitment : Sales 118 million JPY (55.7% of plan), Ordinary Profit -48 million JPY
   • Strategic Decision : Despite steady student registrations, placement growth slowed. As part of a portfolio review, the company decided to terminate the new graduate recruitment business at the end of September 2026 (announced May 19, 2026). Future resources will be concentrated on new graduate media and high-efficiency businesses.

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4. Full-Year Earnings Forecast and Growth Strategy Outlook

The company maintains its existing full-year earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending September 2026.

• Full-Year Sales Target : 20,000 million JPY (+7.3% YoY)
• Full-Year Ordinary Profit Target : 1,900 million JPY (+18.4% YoY)
• Full-Year Net Income Target : 1,272 million JPY (+15.6% YoY)

Although the rise in hiring appetite due to economic recovery is slower than initially expected, the company aims to achieve record-high full-year performance by combining steady hiring demand in the IT engineer sector with measures such as unit price improvement, direct sales reinforcement, and better matching accuracy.

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5. Management Conscious of Capital Cost and Stock Price, and Prime Market Compliance

The company is actively promoting improved capital efficiency and expanded shareholder returns to meet the listing maintenance criteria for the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market.

Policy for Market Capitalization of Tradable Shares

• Challenge : As of the end of September 2025, the market capitalization of tradable shares was 7.644 billion JPY , below the 10 billion JPY threshold.
• Goal : To achieve a stock price of 3,000 JPY in FY2026 , the company is pushing for earnings growth and strengthened IR activities.

Change in Shareholder Return Policy and Dividend Increase

Mindful of the cost of shareholders' equity (12.6–14.6%) and maintaining a high ROE (around 20–25%), the company has clarified its dividend policy. It has set a basic target of a dividend payout ratio of 50% or more from ordinary dividends alone and has upwardly revised its dividend forecast based on performance trends.

• Year-end Ordinary Dividend : 140 JPY (+15 JPY increase from the initial 125 JPY forecast)
• Special Dividend : 20 JPY
• Total Annual Dividend : 160 JPY/share (Payout ratio 66.0% )

[Slide Commentary: Trends in Shareholder Returns and Basic Policy]

The slide "Management Conscious of Capital Cost and Stock Price: Shareholder Returns" (PAGE_25) is data that symbolizes the company's shareholder-centric stance. The dividend history shown in the bar and line charts reveals a trajectory of increasing the payout ratio in line with earnings growth. In particular, the 66.0% payout ratio and 160 JPY annual dividend for FY2026 serve as strong evidence of the company's commitment to optimizing capital efficiency and returning profits.

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6. Conclusion

Career Design Center's Q3 FY2026 results demonstrate the strength to achieve record-high performance by navigating external uncertainty through thorough cost management , growth in high-unit-price middle-tier recruitment and IT businesses , and the phasing out of unprofitable businesses (new graduate recruitment) .

The setting of a stock price target (3,000 JPY) for Prime Market compliance and the significant dividend increase to a 66.0% payout ratio (160 JPY annually) clearly express the company's stance toward the stock market. With the new Medium-Term Management Plan scheduled for release in November 2026 , the company's future business developments are highly anticipated as it crafts its next-generation growth story.