Sony Group - Q3 2024

Transcript

Speaker 16

We will now begin FY2023 Q3 consolidated financial results announcement for Sony Group Corporation. I am Okada, Corporate Communications. I will serve as the master of ceremonies. The people on the stage are Mr. Hiroki Totoki, President, COO and CFO; Ms. Naomi Matsuoka, Senior Vice President in charge of Corporate Planning and Control; Lead of Group Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Support for Financial Services and the Entertainment Area; Mr. Sadahiko Hayakawa, Senior Vice President in charge of Finance and IR. These three people will be explaining the FY2023 Q3 results and full year forecast, followed by Q&A. A total of 70 minutes is allocated. Mr. Totoki, the floor is yours.

Hiroki Totoki (President, COO and CFO)

Today, after Mr. Matsuoka and Mr. Hayakawa explain the content shown here, I will summarize the entire earnings briefly. Mr. Hayakawa, please go ahead. Matsuoka and Hayakawa will explain.

Sadahiko Hayakawa (SVP,Finance, and Investor Relation)

Consolidated sales for the quarter were JPY 3,747.5 billion, a significant increase of 22% compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, a record high on a quarterly basis. Consolidated operating income increased JPY 41.8 billion year-on-year to JPY 463.3 billion, the second highest level on a quarterly basis. Net income increased JPY 42.4 billion year-on-year to JPY 363.9 billion, and Adjusted EBITDA increased JPY 75.5 billion to JPY 605 billion. Nine-month cumulative consolidated operating cash flow, excluding the financial services segment, was JPY 618.5 billion.

The full year forecast is for sales to be JPY 12,300 billion, a decrease of JPY 100 billion from the previous forecast. For operating income to be JPY 1,180 billion, an increase of JPY 10 billion from the previous forecast. And for net income to be JPY 920 billion, an increase of JPY 40 billion from the previous forecast. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be JPY 1,770 billion, a decrease of JPY 15 billion from the previous forecast, primarily reflecting the impact of the foreign exchange rate on non-operating profits and loss. The consolidated operating cash flow forecast, excluding the financial services segment, is expected to be JPY 1,080 billion, a decrease of JPY 80 billion from the previous forecast, mainly reflecting an increase in working capital in the G and NS segment. Now I will move on to overview of each business segment. First is G&NS segment.

FY2023 Q3 sales increased significantly 16% year-on-year to JPY 1,444.4 billion, primarily due to increased third-party software sales and the impact of foreign exchange rates. Operating income decreased significantly JPY 30.1 billion year-on-year to JPY 86.1 billion, primarily due to a deterioration in the profitability of PlayStation 5 hardware, mainly due to promotions, and Adjusted OIBDA decreased JPY 26.8 billion to JPY 113.1 billion. The full year forecast is for sales to be JPY 4,150 billion, a decrease of JPY 210 billion from the previous forecast, and operating income and Adjusted OIBDA remain unchanged. Inventory-related reserves that were additionally recorded in the current quarter, mainly due to an increase in inventory resulting from the decline in PS5 unit sales in the current quarter, are expected to be recorded as a recovery gain in the fourth quarter due to a decrease in inventory.

As a result, there is no impact on our full year operating income forecast, but there is an expected shift in profit of approximately JPY 30 billion from the current quarter to the fourth quarter. PS5 hardware unit sales in the quarter were 8.2 million units, which fell short of the target to hit our annual shipments of 25 million units, but was a record high number of quarterly unit sales for PS5, and the cumulative sales have exceeded 50 million units. Due to the impact of the increasing popularity of PS5 and third-party free-to-play hit titles, key user engagement metrics have increased significantly, with monthly active users for all PS in December reaching a record high of 120 million accounts, and total gameplay time for the quarter increasing 13% year-on-year.

Based on the results for this quarter, PS5 unit sales for this fiscal year are expected to be around 21 million units. Regarding first-party software, the cumulative sales of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, which was released in last October, exceeded 10 million copies as of February 4th, and the Marvel's Spider-Man game series has now sold through over 50 million units, including on PC. The game is our second blockbuster hit in two years following God of War: Ragnarök, which was released in the same period last year and is making a major contribution to profits. Regarding network services, despite the impact of a slight year-on-year decrease in the number of PS Plus subscribers, sales increased 11% year-on-year, mainly due to the impact of a further shift to higher services and price revisions.

Now I would like to explain our current view on the outlook for this segment next fiscal year. Regarding the PS5 hardware, which will enter its fifth year since launch, partially due to it entering the latter half of the console cycle, we aim to optimize sales with a greater emphasis on balance with profits, so we anticipate a gradual decline in unit sales from next fiscal year onwards. We expect third-party software sales to continue to expand gradually due to the expansion of the PS5 installed base and the high level of user engagement. In network services, we expect subscribers to be on par with this fiscal year or slightly less due to the impact of price revision we implemented in this fiscal year, but we expect sales to gradually expand due to a shift to attractive premium services.

Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality works and developing Live Service Games, but while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War: Ragnarök and Marvel's Spider-Man two. Although the burden of acquisition-related costs will ease next fiscal year, we expect profit from first-party software to decrease slightly from this fiscal year due to the impact of the decrease in sales. Based upon this, operating income for the next fiscal year is currently expected to increase slightly from this fiscal year. However, while this is our baseline, we are reviewing measures for further improvement in profitability in advance of the announced annual forecast results announcement this May.

Naomi Matsuoka (SVP, Corporate Planning and Control; Lead of Group Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Support for Financial Services Business and Entertainment Area)

Next is the music segment. FY2023 Q3 sales increased 16% year-on-year to JPY 422.1 billion, and operating income increased JPY 13.1 billion to JPY 76.1 billion, both significant increases. Adjusted OIBDA increased JPY 19.9 billion year-on-year to JPY 98.5 billion. Streaming revenue for the quarter on a US dollar basis continued to grow, increasing 12% for recorded music and 17% for music publishing. Profit contribution from visual media and platform was a mid-single digit percentage of the operating income of the segment. The FY2023 forecast is for sales to increase JPY 10 billion from the previous forecast to JPY 1,570 billion, operating income to be unchanged, and adjusted OIBDA to increase JPY 10 billion to JPY 360 billion.

In recent years, the expansion of the streaming market has greatly expanded the revenue opportunities and asset value of music catalogs that have been released for a certain period of time. During the quarter, the total streams of five of our holiday song catalogs by our artists exceeded 1 billion in the United States. Mariah Carey's album, Merry Christmas, ranked in the top 10 of SME's album sales for the quarter, 29 years after it was released. In music publishing, the use of catalogs synchronized with images, such as background music for movies and advertisements, is also an important source of revenue.

Today, we have established a strong foundation that we expect will contribute to achieving stable revenue and expanding our market share in the music business by acquiring the publishing rights to the large catalog works led by EMI Music Publishing and the catalogs of industry-leading artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon. Moreover, depending on the rights for each catalog, we plan to expand opportunities to use the music and are working to create new revenue, such as in the artist merchandise and event promotion areas. Of the four major awards presented at the 66th Grammy Awards on February 5th, Miley Cyrus won Record of the Year, and Victoria Monét won Best New Artist. Sony Music Group artists and songwriters won awards in multiple other categories, including SZA, who was nominated in nine categories the most of any artist this year and won in three of them.

Next is the Pictures segment. In the current quarter, sales increased by 10% year-on-year to JPY 366.3 billion, and operating income increased significantly, JPY 16.2 billion year-on-year to JPY 41.6 billion, mainly due to increases in television and digital streaming licensing revenues and home entertainment sales in motion pictures. Adjusted OIBDA increased JPY 16.3 billion year-on-year to JPY 54.6 billion. The FY2023 forecast is for sales to increase JPY 10 billion from the previous forecast to JPY 1,470 billion, and the FY2023 forecast is for sales to increase JPY 10 billion from the previous forecast to JPY 1,470 billion, and for operating income and adjusted OIBDA, they will remain unchanged. Although the Hollywood strikes have finally ended, delays in script development have caused continued changes in movie release schedules and delays in the delivery of television shows.

As a result, we estimate the impact of the strikes on profits in the current fiscal year to be a little less than JPY 20 billion. Next fiscal year, in addition to continued delays in releases, it is expected that digital streaming licensing and other revenues will decline due to a decrease in the number of films released this fiscal year, so the negative impact on profits due to the strikes is expected to reach its peak, and the amount of such impact on a US dollar basis is expected to be slightly less than twice as much as in the current fiscal year.

On the other hand, the paying subscribers of Crunchyroll, which is driving growth in this segment, exceeded 13 million as of the end of December last year and have expanded at an average pace of 23% a year since we acquired the business in August 2021. In addition to continuing to provide appealing anime content to core fans, we are focusing on measures to broaden the anime fan base and deepen engagement by collaborating with external partners such as Amazon, expanding the service into growth markets such as Brazil, India, and Southeast Asia, and further expanding in business areas such as theatrical distribution, anime movies, and e-commerce. Amortization costs associated with the acquisition are expected to decrease significantly from next fiscal year onwards, and we expect this to further contribute to profit in this segment.

For the next fiscal year, despite the challenging environment where the impact from the strikes on profitability is expected to increase, we are aiming for a level of operating income that exceeds the current fiscal year as we intend to further grow our Crunchyroll business, develop and produce content all over the world, enhance theatrical distribution by distributing films from third-party studios, and maintain a strong focus on cost control. Next is the Entertainment, Technology & Services segment. FY2023 Q3 sales decreased 2% year-over-year to JPY 735.7 billion, mainly due to lower sales of televisions and operating income decreased JPY 3.9 billion to JPY 77.2 billion, and Adjusted OIBDA was JPY 103.4 billion down JPY 1.9 billion. The FY2023 forecast is for sales to decrease JPY 10 billion from a previous forecast to JPY 2,430 billion, and for operating income and Adjusted OIBDA, they will remain unchanged.

Hiroki Totoki (President, COO and CFO)

In North America, expected growth was not being made. There was no sign of major decline in demand, and expected sales were relatively steady. In the Chinese market, while demand for television fell sharply, demand for digital cameras was higher than expected and overall performance was roughly in line with the expectation. Furthermore, as a result of careful production and sales control, the overall inventory level in the segment at the end of December was significantly reduced to JPY 341.3 billion, an 18% decrease year-on-year. Regarding televisions in the fourth quarter, we plan to further reduce inventory and reduce costs based on results of the year-end selling season. Regarding digital cameras and interchangeable lenses, we aim to continue to expand our businesses, including through the introduction of new products to the market. Next is the Imaging & Sensing Solutions segment.

FY2023 sales for the quarter increased significantly, 21% year-on-year to JPY 505.2 billion, primarily due to an increase in sales of image sensors for mobile, and operating income increased JPY 14.9 billion to JPY 99.7 billion, both new record highs for the segment. Adjusted OIBDA increased JPY 29.0 billion year-on-year to JPY 163.7 billion. The FY2023 forecast is unchanged from the previous forecast. We believe that smartphone product market, which has continued to experience negative growth compared to the last calendar year, has hit the bottom in the current quarter, but the North American market is still showing declines compared to the last calendar year, and there is still uncertainty in the outlook. During this quarter, sales increased significantly year-on-year, primarily due to a recovery of the smartphone product market and the introduction of large-sized sensors for high-end products.

Nevertheless, we plan to continue to operate our business cautiously for the time being while continuing to monitor product market trends and the inventory status. The yield rate of mobile sensors, which is the most important issue for current fiscal year, is progressing, following the improvement curve assumed in the previous forecast, and the impact on profitability has not changed from the previous forecast. Regarding the sensor business, other than the mobile sensor, the delay in recovery in the sensor market for industrial and social infrastructure has become particularly noticeable, so we plan to proceed with position adjustments and improve inventory in the fourth quarter. Sales in the segment during the current mid-range plan are expected to grow significantly by an average of 22% year-on-year basis and 8% on the US dollar basis.

We have been able to steadily transition our mobile sensors to become larger and more value-added, and we believe that we will be able to continue to grow our business in the period of the next Mid-Range Plan. On the other hand, at a time when sales are not increasing as planned, primarily due to the market environment, we recognize that significant increase in manufacturing costs, mainly due to capital expenditure and production operational losses such as those brought on by deterioration in yields, are issues that need to be addressed in order to further improve profitability going forward. Regarding image sensor capital expenditure, in the period of the next Mid-Range Plan, we plan to leverage production capacity and strategic inventory for a buildup ahead of time to optimize the investment. Lastly, there is the Financial Services segment.

For the current quarter, mainly due to the impact of market fluctuation on Sony Life, financial services revenue increased JPY 287.3 billion year-on-year to JPY 311.7 billion, and operating income increased JPY 30.2 billion to JPY 77.3 billion, both significant increases. Adjusted OIBDA increased JPY 20.5 billion year-on-year to JPY 84.3 billion. Sony Life's cumulative new policy amount in force during the nine months ended December 31st, 2023, continued to grow steadily, increasing 22% year-on-year to JPY 7.3 trillion. FY2023 financial service revenue is expected to increase JPY 90 billion from our previous forecast to JPY 1,300 billion, and operating income is expected to increase JPY 20 billion from the previous forecast to JPY 175 billion, reflecting the recording of a gain mainly from the transfer portion of the share of Sony Payment Services Inc. by Sony Bank.

Adjusted OIBDA is unchanged from the previous forecast. Please note that the forecast incorporates costs associated with profit quality improvement measures at Sony Life going forward, excluding the record of the gain mainly from the transfer I just mentioned. We have made no change of our previous forecast. Finally, I would like to speak about the main points regarding the forecast for this fiscal year and outlook forward to speak about the main points regarding the forecast for this fiscal year and outlook for each business in next fiscal year and beyond. Regarding the outlook for the current fiscal year, consolidated operating income for the quarter reached a level approaching the record high level achieved in the third quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31st, 2022, and I think we have created good momentum towards completing the current Mid-Range Plan.

Looking ahead to the next fiscal year, in the G&NS segment, we expect operating income to slightly increase from the current fiscal year as the gradual growth in third-party software and network services due to the expansion of PS5 installed base offsets a decrease in profit from first-party software. In the Pictures segment, although the impact of the strikes is expected to peak next fiscal year, we are aiming for a level of operating income that exceeds the current fiscal year, mainly due to the expected growth of Crunchyroll, development of a global production, and through controlled costs. In the I&SS segment, we expect moderate sales growth due to a recovery of the smartphone market as well as increase in the size and value-added of mobile sensors, which have been promoting to date.

Regarding image sensor capital expenditure during the period of the next mid-range plan, we currently assume that we will be able to keep it to approximately 70%-80% of the current mid-range plan period by taking full advantage of our existing production facility and strategic inventory. In the financial service segment, we were able to obtain approval for the corporate restructuring plan for partial spinoff under the Act of Segmenting Industrial Competitiveness of Japan. Based on the approval, we are working in earnest to prepare for the spinoff and listing of the shares of Sony Financial Group Inc. in October 2025. That's all for my explanation.

Operator (participant)

Thank you very much. We have given presentation by Totoki, Hayakawa, and Matsuoka from 4:25. We have Q&A for media and from 4:50, Q&A for investors and analysts. 20 minutes for each Q&A session. Those of you who have registered for asking questions in advance, please connect to the number that we have already designated to you. As for the way of asking questions and points to note, please look at the invitation letter that we have sent to you in advance. Please wait until the Q&A session begins. Thank you for waiting. We will now entertain questions from the media. As was the case of presentation, the people shown on the slide are the people who will respond to your questions. I'd like to now begin the Q&A session. I'd like to ask you to limit your questions to two questions per person.

If you have any question, please press asterisk followed by one. The first question is Tsutsumi-san from Nikkei Shimbun. Tsutsumi-san, the floor is yours.

Speaker 11

Tsutsumi from Nikkei Shimbun. I have two questions. First question. The strategic investment and CapEx of the current Mid-Range Plan. You refer to this in the semiconductor group as a whole. FY21 to the end of this fiscal year in three years. At the end of the day, how much would be the amount of investment? Also, based upon that, next Mid-Range Plan, the strategic investment and the CapEx, what will be the direction and the size? What would be the level of investment? Are there going to be increase or strategic investment will increase but the CapEx will be flat? Can you please give us the direction and also the size? The second question.

In the medium term, ROIC forecast for each business segment, entertainment and semiconductors. What applications and uses will drive growth, the products and services as well? Can you please elaborate? These are my two questions. Thank you.

Sadahiko Hayakawa (SVP,Finance, and Investor Relation)

Thank you very much for your questions. Your first question regarding the current Mid-Range Plan and strategic investment and capital expenditure from FY2021 through FY2023. Three-year cumulative amount, Capex will be about JPY 1.9 trillion. M&A and other strategic investment is JPY 1.8 trillion. That is our forecast. The investment is progressing steadfastly, so in the medium term, this investment will bear fruit. Next Mid-Range Plan and the size of investment and the direction of investment. Officially, in spring next fiscal year, we would like to give you explanation. Capex, I&SS investment, as compared to the past, will be 70%-80%, I explained in my presentation.

The largest amount, largest of the CapEx is investment in I&SS, so there will be slight increase in investment in this area. With regards to strategic investment, there are opportunities that we have to look at, so it's very difficult to say precisely, but about the same level as this fiscal year or might be a slight decrease from this year. Strategic investment, as you know, include return to the shareholders, so including that, we have to think about strategic investment. And then, from next year, the direction of ROIC. Entertainment area, the driver of the ROIC will be game. And in terms of improvement, music, we have expectations for improvement in the music. Music in the current Mid-Range Plan, acquisition of large catalogs and the foundation of the business and the competitiveness have been strengthened. Going forward, based upon the catalog base, we are going to further expand this.

That's all from me. Thank you.

Taku Umegaki (Senior Analyst)

Next question. Mr. Umegaki from Toyo Securities. I have two questions. The first question is about the spinoff that was released today. When I read this, by implementing this spinoff, entertainment and other areas that you are focusing on will not bring in any cash. So the purpose of conducting this spinoff and also trying to improve the business, what is the relationship between the two? My second question has to do with Indian strategy. So I understand that your negotiations with Z for merger wasn't successful. I understand that you spent some time explaining about India, but are you thinking about a change in your strategy? What will you do with that investment you were thinking about that merger? How will you use that money?

Sadahiko Hayakawa (SVP,Finance, and Investor Relation)

Thank you for the question. About the financial spinoff.

Regarding that point, as you know, we will not use any cash, but on the balance sheet, I think there's about JPY 20 trillion asset and liability recorded. If we streamline that, the business capital allocation will become easier to handle. On the other hand, in financials, they can, of course, try to grow on their own because they are going to become a listed company. For both companies, I think this will be a win-win situation. That is our aim. Regarding the Zee merger, the negotiations, as has been announced, the negotiations are not progressing at the moment, but the strategy itself, India, on a long-term basis, has a great growth potential. It's a very appealing market.

Therefore, we will try to seek various opportunities, and if we can find another opportunity that would replace this type of plan, we will look into that, and we will also continue to look into organic growth in our strategy. The amount of money that was expected to be used for that merger, well, that investment isn't going to change capital allocation or it will not change our behavior in our investment. So at the moment, we don't have any concrete plans.

Speaker 15

Now we can move to the next question. Hiroki Otoo-san from NewsPix, you're next.

Speaker 9

Yes, my name's Hiroki Otoo-san from NewsPix, and we can hear me. Yes, we can hear you very well. First question is about the gaming business. Over the last few years, you had shortages of smart chips. Semiconductor chip supply was the problem, but then the smartphone chip is becoming more difficult to produce additional value by miniaturizing it. In the past, if you wait for two or three more years, more advanced CTGTs can reduce the energy consumption with much lower prices. You could do that, right? So the hardware itself, you can sell at JPY 30,000 or so. You could take that strategy. But right now, four, five, or three nanometers, if you are trying to get those miniaturized semiconductor chips, it will become more expensive. So taking that strategy becomes more complicated.

But at the same time, you could expand on the network to have different ways to develop the GPU. Or do you think still we need to rely on hardware with the pricing so that you can widely sell them? Do you still not giving up that option? So that's my question. Second question is about cash flow. Several years ago, you had JPY 4 billion in cash flow, but right now, operating cash flow, because of many reasons, is quite behind the plan compared with the plans. But operating cash flow will be a driver where you would make investment. Therefore, would you become slightly hesitant to make less of an investment, or would you want to reduce inventory? There are other ways to increase cash, right? So do you think allocations of capital as big as previously is going to be possible? There are also financing.

There are many different options to manage cash, right? So currently, can you talk a little more context about how do you see about the use of cash and how much cash that you could generate and invest?

Hiroki Totoki (President, COO and CFO)

Well, first question about your budget and ask, there's a structural issue, as you have pointed out. And you said it exactly right. PS5 today is using nano die that is on single digit. In the past, PS4, or let's say previous version, chip shrink benefit is very difficult to come by, unlike older generation. Therefore, cost reduction is very difficult, simply put, right, if I simplify the explanation. Now, our sales strategy, we used to have a steep discount, but we do not want to rely on that.

We want to make sure our business is profitable, as well as we want to focus on user engagement together with the volume of sales of units. You need to strike a nice balance between all those components. So generation from PS4 to PS5, one of the biggest differences is that we shifted more focus on network service. That's one. And from PS4 to PS5, we can continue to hand over the consumer customers. So user engagement is something that we want to sustain so that we can sustain the level of MAU. That will be the most critical things in our business right now. Now, our plan for the hardware, that is one is a commercial strategy that gets to do with the commercial strategy and what will be the right pricing for customers. But whatever that might be, you cannot enjoy game without client device in your hands.

So in that sense, PS Portal would be one device that we just came up with as a kind of that was an experiment, but we are getting some feedback. We are hoping to get more feedback, but we can get those feedback while customers using them so that our services and our network can mature if I evolve by receiving those feedback. Now, the other question that you raised was on the cash flow. As you said it rightfully so, we had about JPY 4 trillion. JPY 1 billion yen is cash flow in several financial years ago. This year, operating cash flow is relatively lower, but working capital has actually grown quite a bit. If you just cut it off in 3 years, it may look like our operating comes lower, but inventory level can be reduced. We can collect accounts payable, and we can get the cash.

In a big sense, there's no major change, and I would say you can actually understand it like that. If you look at the rating agencies, we do actually have more opportunity for financial leverage, so it needs to. If it were required, we can also take that as an option.

Speaker 15

Next question. Abe-san from Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, please.

Speaker 10

Thank you. Abe from Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, can you hear me?

Naomi Matsuoka (SVP, Corporate Planning and Control; Lead of Group Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Support for Financial Services Business and Entertainment Area)

Yes, we can.

Speaker 10

Thank you. ET&S camera, I have two questions regarding the camera. The first question, situation by markets. For China, sales unit, sales volume was larger than your forecast. What about other markets, North America, Europe, and domestic in Japan? What is the trend of the sales? And second question, is the level of inventory? ET&S segment as a total as of the end of December, reduction in the inventory as compared to the same period last year. What about the inventory level of camera? These are my two questions. Thank you.

Naomi Matsuoka (SVP, Corporate Planning and Control; Lead of Group Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Support for Financial Services Business and Entertainment Area)

Thank you for your questions. First, ET&S segment, and you're talking about camera. And what is the market trend was your question. China has been doing well for the third quarter.

North America and European market have been moving rather relatively well. The inventory itself, there's no particular problem in the inventory level at the level that we are satisfied with, and we are able to maintain that inventory level.

I think we don't have much time left. I think the next question will be the last question. From the Yomiuri Shimbun, Murase-san, please.

Speaker 14

Murase is from Yomiuri Shimbun. Sorry, this is a different question. This is about the Nikkei average, and I believe that it is the highest, record high. Were you expecting this? I'm sure the investors have a lot of expectations towards the Sony Group. How do you feel about this?

Naomi Matsuoka (SVP, Corporate Planning and Control; Lead of Group Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Support for Financial Services Business and Entertainment Area)

Thank you for the question. Since the beginning of this year, we're seeing this increase, significant increase. Quite frankly, I myself did not expect this kind of trend. So in that sense, I kind of regret that my forecast didn't come true, but I'm very happy that the market's expectation of us is quite high. We hope to make sure that we don't underperform against that type of expectation and to demonstrate growth and development. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Since it's time, we'd like to conclude the Q&A session with the media. Q&A with investors and analysts will start at 4:47 P.M.

Speaker 15

We'll soon be starting question and answer session with investor and analyst. Please give us a few more moments while we get started. Thank you for waiting. We'd like to now start questions from investor and analyst. I'll be facilitating this meeting, this session. My name is Kondo from IR Group. Very good to see you all. Respondents, just like our media sessions, are being going to be responded by three of them on slide. Please note about the information that we have distributed to you ahead of time about how to use telephone, how to control it, and other things to be careful about. You can only ask up to two questions per person.

We'll start. If you have a question, please press star followed by one. With that, I'd like to ask Ryosuke Katsura from SMBC Nikko Securities to ask.

Speaker 12

Yes, thank you. Yes, my name is Katsura from SMBC Nikko. I'd like to, yes, ask two questions. First question is about I&SS, where fourth quarter inventories, like your plan, is going to be shrinking the inventory level. But there, looking at slide seven at the bottom where you are showing how much inventory that you're expecting. But how much are you planning to shrink? Can you give any idea about how small the inventory level is going to be? And then 7, 19 talks all about utilization, so maybe you can do that calculation about that. But can you also talk about how we should interpret it after Q1 next year? Second question for the next year, Game and Network Services, Pictures.

I think you mentioned back then in those sections, you made about aiming at certain levels. But can you also talk about other segments about similar perspectives and other segments as well?

Hiroki Totoki (President, COO and CFO)

Okay. Thank you very much for your question. I&SS, fourth quarter inventory, to that question. Well, in terms of that three-quarters levels, it's actually quite a small level, so the impact overall is quite limited. In general, I would say it will end up to about being flat or plus incremental small addition on top of third quarter. Now, I'll ask also about inventory level for next financial year. And we are expecting our top line growth to grow. And so inventory will also grow as fast as the top line, but that should be covered during the business planning process for next financial year.

I hope that is good enough for my answer to your question. Now, for FY2024 in general, what I talked about, yes, I mentioned about game pictures, I&SS. Yes, I mentioned about them for perspective for FY2024. For music market, on streaming, single high digit or the mid digit, single to mid digit was the growth. And we hope to grow faster than that. So finance, well, the base profit level is going to gradually, slowly grow. It's going to take some time, right? But the new policy amount is going up too. So it's not changed since it's going to keep growing in a steady or gradual level. But because of adoption of IFRS, we have to do risk hedging because there can be volatility because of the change of the standard. That is the risk. We are going to be investing some costs.

Therefore, we believe relatively gradual growth for Finance. Pictures, I actually mentioned it already, flat or plus incremental on top or flat for Pictures, like I said. But in any case, we'll be giving the next financial year's guidance during the springtime. So we hope to cover more details at that time. Thank you.

Speaker 15

Next question, Okazaki-san from Nomura Securities.

Yu Okazaki (Senior Corporate Managing Director)

Okazaki from Nomura Securities. Game, I have questions regarding game. MAU became record high level. PS5 cumulative sales is already exceeding. So PS5 alone will not be able to satisfy that. Why is it MAU has grown to this level? Can you please explain a bit more in detail? MAU is a metric for user engagement, an important metric. Well, MAU is increasing. In the fourth quarter, the profit is not as much as expected. MAU increases, but the profit was not as high. What is the background for this?

Sadahiko Hayakawa (SVP,Finance, and Investor Relation)

Thank you for your question. First, with regards to MAU, for one thing, there's seasonality. Third quarter is the holiday season, so there's seasonality factor. And then free-to-play titles, we had the big hits, so we are enjoying benefit from that. These are the two major factors drivers for increasing MAU.

Then engagement metric, third quarter, I already explained a bit. Special factors were there. And about JPY 30 billion of profit will be shifted to the fourth quarter from the third quarter. PS5 inventory valuation related number. In the second half, it will be leveled. But if you only look at the third quarter, the profit level, as it appears, is slightly less than what it actually is.

Speaker 15

The next question. From Mizuho Securities, Nakane-san.

Yasuo Nakane (Managing Director and Chief Equity Strategist)

Thank you. Nakane from Mizuho Securities, I have two questions. The first question to Mr. Totoki, the first question is as follows. It's four months since you became the president. What have you noticed or realized since you have become the president? Next quarter, there's no first party, large first parties, but the W3C titles going to be half. Now, in FY2025, what kind of measures are you considering? If you can share with us your impressions. The second question is about the return to shareholders. I understand that the strategic investment is going to become slightly lower. So basically, I understand that your measures of investment will not change significantly. But if you have any comments on that point,

Sadahiko Hayakawa (SVP,Finance, and Investor Relation)

yes, thank you very much for your question. Actually, I am the chairperson. It's been about four months. I am trying to demonstrate leadership and trying to have as many meetings as possible with the management team. I also visit studios. Everyone is working really hard to fulfill their responsibility to try to optimize the business. I understand that. But overall growth, overall growth and sustainable profitability or increasing margin, how will that translate to these goals? I don't think people understand that deeply. I think that is the problem of the organization.

So as far as I'm concerned, I try to understand what is happening in the company, in the industry, and also the perspective of the analysts and try to explain in a transparent manner so that people can recognize and notice these issues so that we can have a harmonized approach going forward. That is a very general comment since I became the chairperson. There are concrete points, which I will not go into today. Now, about visiting the studios and about Bungie, and I've had meetings with the leaders there. The studios, people who work in the studios have very high motivation. They're very highly motivated. They're very good people. And they're very creative people. They have great creative minds. And they also have knowledge about live streaming. However, having said that, when it comes to the business itself, I think there is room for improvement.

And that's got to do about how to use the money or about the schedule of development or how to fulfill one's accountability towards development, etc. Those are my frank impressions. So I will continue to engage in dialogue with the people so that we can find the right way to proceed. Now, shareholder returns and dividends, as you mentioned, no major change there. We will have to deal with shareholder returns in an honest way. And that is a part of the strategic investment. And we believe that if the solution is considered to be the optimum solution, then we will go ahead with that solution.

Speaker 15

Now, let me move to the next question. I'd like to ask Yasui-san from UBS Securities to ask the next question, please.

Speaker 13

Well, thank you. This is Yossi from UBS Securities. I want to ask two questions. And so basically, it's a single question. Operating profits, game and semiconductor, they were actually top lines growing, but the profit level is not really growing up respective three years or not. What are the things that you think, Totoki-san, what do you think you need to have? Whether it's possible or not, is there any particular initiative or angle that you want to get at to improve the bottom line rather than only top line?

Hiroki Totoki (President, COO and CFO)

Thank you. For gaming this year, it was profit margin, especially the operating margin, was not really a wonderful situation.

Well, partly because we are currently in a transition where the PS5 as a hardware unit is expanding as a process. But what we need to manage is that PS4 and the previous general, unlike PS4 or previous generations, consoles, if you look at the console cycle, cost reduction within the cycle is very difficult to come by. And that is a big challenge because if you think about PS console device, unlike high-specification computers, it's affordable price with a very safe, comfortable environment with a very great experience. That's wonderful things about PlayStations. But compared to the past, the cost for building that experience, memory, chipsets, the prices of the cost of all those components are going up as a fact.

How can we, given the situation, put our product plans together to make it affordable so that without relying on steep discounts to reasonably sell them to continue our commercial journey on a sustainable basis? I personally think that's important. And there is an opportunity in that. And that's how I see it. And the other potential driver is the first-party title generation because in the past, as you all know, we wanted to popularize console. And the title was something and the first-party title main purpose was to make the hardware or the console popular, right? It is true, right? But there's a synergy to it. So if we have a strong first-party content, not only with our console but also other platforms like computers, and the first-party can be grown with multi-platforms, and that can help operating profit to improve.

So that's another one that we want to practically work on. I personally think there are opportunities out there for improvement of margin. So I would like to go aggressive on improving our margin performance. Now, to I&SS, so far in the past, R&D and capital investment comes together. But sales is now recouping what we have invested. That's basically what we had as a problem because first, we need to focus on minimizing operating loss. We need to also manage investment plans so that cost and investor opportunities need to be meeting at the right balance. But what it is, is in the past, as you all know, sensors, especially for mobile sensor, let's say, is becoming larger format. And also, what's driving the other things about the price is having more cameras embedded on it.

More cameras as well as larger format of the sensor both requires having a bigger capacity. But larger format as well as more cameras, more lenses in smartphone, is that going to continue forever? Probably not. Maintained at the level of today, but having more functionalities to it, right? So having higher functionality is something that is now demanded. How can we build that high functionality, I think, without too much redundancy in the process? That's the question, right? Because if we can address that, I think the more profit margin is going to go up. Thank you.

Speaker 15

Time is running short. So I'd like to ask the questions to be please limit yourself to one question per person. Next question, please. Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, Ono-san, please.

Masahiro Ono (Equity Analyst)

Thank you. Ono from Morgan Stanley. About game, I have one question. Next fiscal year, slight increase in profit you are expecting. JPY 270 billion this year. And in the past, the peak was more than JPY 300 billion. So the peak in FY21 with the PS5, it's very difficult to exceed the peak level of JPY 300 billion in 2021. I may be asking repeated question. But MAU, 123 million is to be increased. And further, is it possible to exceed the peak in profit level, especially in the cycle? The fifth year is the peak of the hardware. And sixth year is the peak of hardware. And seventh year is the peak of the margin.

That was the cycle as I understand this in the past. So next year will be the sixth year of the release. And the software, mainly, if it is third-party, I think it is regrettable. But how should we interpret this? Can you please explain? Thank you.

Sadahiko Hayakawa (SVP,Finance, and Investor Relation)

Well, PS4 can be one big reference for us. Under COVID-19, we had the COVID-19 period. So we cannot accurately say fifth year, sixth year, and seventh year for PS5. There may be some argument. Margin or the profit level, absolute amount of profit is to be increased. And for that, it is challenging. But I'd like to try an increase. Compared to PS5, market itself, including the third-party titles, the market is increasing for PS5. But the profitability of hardware is higher for PS4. So BOM cost will not decrease with the new console.

So how we can hit the balance with the margin and continue to spread and disseminate PS5 is important. And second point, this fiscal year and next fiscal year, the acquisition cost of the past is also incurred. So as the acquisition-related cost burden decreases, that will become a factor for increase in profit. So we have to think this in an integrated fashion. And in the era of PS5, I do not think that I am not going to give up and renew the peak. So in the next Mid-Range Plan, we would like to challenge and try to exceed the peak of the past.

Speaker 15

The next person will be the last person to ask the question. Ayada-san from JPMorgan.

Speaker 8

This is Ayada from JPMorgan Securities on games. You have been saying 123 million of the MAU. You had a great hit with a free title. I understand that these are titles to which you invest. Well, regarding those games, I think new modes have been added. Or you have a collaboration with Disney, which are different expectations toward growth from the past. From your perspective, these third-party titles, what are your expectations toward those titles? And as an investor, what are your expectations? And the profitability for games for next fiscal year. You didn't mention about the add-ons. So what's happening there?Thank you.

Sadahiko Hayakawa (SVP,Finance, and Investor Relation)

Like you say, those titles are contributing significantly. That's true. Collaboration with other companies is something that we can't comment.

Well, those companies are attractive companies to which we would like to invest. It's a positive development for us. That collaboration, we hope that will generate an upside for us. Add-on sales for next fiscal year, whether that is being reflected or not, well, the business plan hasn't been fixed yet. At this point in time, it's hard for me to comment on that point. The third-party titles, if they grow, that will be very positive for us. We hope to utilize that momentum, take advantage of that momentum. Since it's time, we'd like to conclude the consolidated financial results announcement from Sony Group. Thank you very much.