Wellnet (2428): FY2026 Full-Year Earnings Analysis and the Comprehensive Mid-Term Growth Story

Wellnet Corporation (Securities Code: 2428) is a payment and DX solution provider specializing in multi-payment services, transportation payment solutions for buses and railways, and SaaS-based platforms. Based on the company's FY2026 full-year earnings report and the latest update to its mid-term management plan, "Think Wild.," this report provides a comprehensive analysis of performance highlights, growth drivers by business category, financial position, and the mid-to-long-term growth strategy leading up to 2030.

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1. FY2026 Earnings Overview: Absorbing Large-Scale Rebound Effects and Exceeding Initial and Revised Targets

For the fiscal year ended June 2026, Wellnet reported net sales of 10,059 million yen (down 7.9% YoY) , operating profit of 1,411 million yen (down 6.1% YoY) , ordinary profit of 1,505 million yen (down 9.6% YoY) , and net profit of 1,081 million yen (up 0.4% YoY) . While the company experienced a decline in sales and operating/ordinary profits due to the rebound effect from large-scale projects in the previous year and a decrease in transaction volume from certain major clients, net profit saw a slight increase, reaching a record high.

[Slide Commentary: Why this slide is important]

The full-year earnings table above highlights the "high level of target achievement" behind the results, which may appear as a decline in revenue and profit at first glance. Although the company revised its earnings forecast on April 30, 2026, the final results (net sales of 10,059 million yen, operating profit of 1,411 million yen, and net profit of 1,081 million yen) exceeded the revised forecasts (10,000 million yen, 1,350 million yen, and 1,000 million yen, respectively) across all metrics. Notably, the operating profit achievement rate reached 105% , and the net profit achievement rate reached 108% , serving as key indicators that the company effectively managed fluctuations in the business environment and demonstrated solid profitability.

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2. Trends by Category: Shifting from Traditional Payments to High-Value "SaaS (Payment + α)"

The company's business structure is categorized into "Billing" based on paper invoices, "E-Billing" for paperless electronic billing and payments, "Remittance" for refund and transfer agency services, and "SaaS (Payment + α)," which integrates value-added services such as ticket sales and membership management.

Looking at sales trends, the core E-Billing segment recorded 7,416 million yen (a decrease of 1,016 million yen YoY) due to the impact of reduced large-scale projects. However, SaaS (Payment + α) recorded significant growth, reaching 748 million yen (an increase of 237 million yen YoY, up approximately 46.5%) . Furthermore, the "Strategic Fields" within SaaS (Altair, Triple Star Cloud, Electronic Money, ekaiin.com, and Shima-eru) expanded steadily to 281 million yen (an increase of 74 million yen YoY) .

[Slide Commentary: Why this slide is important]

This table of sales by category clearly illustrates the "qualitative transformation of the business model" that Wellnet is promoting. The structure is shifting toward a model where the growth of "SaaS (Payment + α)," a high-margin, stock-based revenue model, covers the contraction of E-Billing, which relies on simple payment processing fees. Regarding account numbers, while E-Billing accounts decreased (to 4,895) due to consolidation, SaaS accounts increased significantly from 356 to 508 (an increase of 152 YoY) , confirming the steady accumulation of the customer base.

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3. Analysis of Sales and Profit Structure by Industry: Growth in Transportation DX and Cost Management

In terms of sales by industry, the transportation sector reached 1,584 million yen (an increase of 161 million yen YoY) , showing steady growth. The company is capturing digitalization demand in the railway and bus sectors through the expansion of routes for "Bus Mori!" and the smartphone commuter pass "Tokkyu e-pass" (provided for JR Hokkaido's dedicated site), as well as collaboration with Nankai Electric Railway's "Nankai Digital Ticket" for the Limited Express Rapi:t seat reservation system.

Regarding profit and loss, the cost of sales decreased to 7,562 million yen (a decrease of 837 million yen YoY) in line with the decline in sales, leading to an improvement in the gross profit margin to 24.8% (up 1.7pt YoY) . The decrease in payment collection fees contributed to the reduction in costs. Meanwhile, SG&A expenses rose to 1,086 million yen (an increase of 69 million yen YoY), primarily due to higher personnel and bonus expenses (398 million yen, up 55 million yen YoY). Although R&D expenses decreased to 27 million yen (down 28 million yen YoY) as projects transitioned to commercialization, development investments capitalized as software assets (such as Altair, Hokkaido MaaS, and FPoS-enabled house electronic money) remained at a high level of 256 million yen (up 43 million yen YoY), reflecting a commitment to future growth investment.

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4. Financial Soundness and Shareholder Return Policy

While the company's balance sheet includes deposits related to collection and remittance agency services, its underlying financial indicators, excluding these, are extremely sound. As of the end of June 2026, net cash and deposits stood at 3.6 billion yen , and the net equity ratio was 76.3% (up 2.9pt YoY) , maintaining exceptionally high financial stability.

Regarding the dividend policy, the company maintains a basic policy of "continuing dividends with a payout ratio of 50% or more, with a DOE of 5% as the lower limit." For FY2026, the company paid an annual dividend of 29.50 yen per share (payout ratio of 51.7%, DOE of 6.1%) . Furthermore, starting from the interim period of FY2026 (December 2025), the company introduced an "interim dividend system with a DOE of 2.5% as the lower limit," further clarifying its commitment to shareholder returns.

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5. Earnings and Dividend Forecasts for FY2027

For the full-year consolidated earnings forecast for FY2027, the company expects net sales of 10,500 million yen (up 4.4% YoY) , operating profit of 1,500 million yen (up 6.3% YoY) , ordinary profit of 1,700 million yen (up 13.0% YoY) , and net profit of 1,150 million yen (up 6.4% YoY) . The plan projects a return to an upward trend in both sales and profits.

Regarding dividends, the company plans an annual dividend of 30.50 yen (an increase of 1.00 yen YoY) , consisting of an interim dividend of 12.50 yen and a year-end dividend of 18.00 yen, demonstrating a policy of aiming for consecutive dividend increases in line with profit growth.

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6. Mid-Term Management Plan "Think Wild.": Doubling Profit Targets by 2030

The company has announced its mid-term management plan, "Think Wild.," covering the five-year period from July 2025 to June 2030. Under the slogan "Creating new services from Hokkaido and becoming a company that drives Japan's DX," the company is developing its business around the following strategic pillars:

1. All-in-one cloud services for transportation operators (Altair, Triple Star) : Providing integrated sales, payment, authentication, and settlement.
2. Electronic money (Payment Secretary / Embedded OEM, Regional Money) : Promoting secure cashless payments linked with My Number Card authentication (FPoS).
3. Payment + α packages (ekaiin.com, Shima-eru) : Expanding into membership management, web collection, and BPO areas.

[Slide Commentary: Why this slide is important]

This "Numerical Plan" slide is one of the most critical documents, clearly showing the long-term growth trajectory and the goal of enhancing corporate value. For the fiscal year ending June 2030, the company has set ambitious numerical targets: net sales of 17 billion yen , ordinary profit of 3 billion yen , net profit of 2 billion yen , and ROE of 15% . This aims to "double the profit scale" from the current level (around 1.5 billion yen in ordinary profit). As the driving force for this growth, the company plans to expand its strategic fields (Altair, electronic money, ekaiin.com, etc.) to a 3.5 billion yen scale , in addition to the growth of existing fields (13.5 billion yen).

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7. Summary of Key Points to Watch

In summary, the focus points for Wellnet's earnings and future strategy are as follows:

• Speed of expansion in SaaS and strategic fields : The shift from standalone payments to high-margin SaaS models is progressing steadily; the focus is on whether the increase in account numbers can drive profit margin improvements.
• De facto standard in transportation DX : With a track record of collaboration with JR Hokkaido and major private railway/bus companies, the focus is on how much the nationwide rollout of "Altair" and "ABT (Account-Based Ticketing) gates" will accelerate.
• Capital efficiency and proactive shareholder returns : With a dividend policy of a 5% DOE lower limit and the introduction of interim dividends, the focus is on whether shareholder returns, backed by strong net cash and deposits, will continue.

Attention is focused on the company's business trends as it overcomes the temporary loss of large-scale projects and advances its transition to a stock-based business model and its mid-to-long-term profit-doubling initiatives.