Nabtesco Corporation

For FY2023, Nabtesco reported sales of 333.6 billion yen, up 24.9 billion yen year over year. Operating profit was 17.4 billion yen versus 18.1 billion yen in 2022. Management said the decline reflected one-time factors, weaker profits in Component Solutions, and impairments tied to transportation, accessibility, Gilgen, and the TS Precision divestiture. For FY2024, the company guided to sales of 322 billion yen and operating profit of 12.8 billion yen, and said it intends to keep the dividend per share at 80 yen.

Atsushi Habe framed the year as mixed: top-line growth was solid, but profit was hurt by one-time charges and weakness in Component Solutions. His tone was candid and action-oriented, emphasizing that the company needs to change the trajectory and not simply explain the situation to investors. He highlighted Project 10 as a company-wide effort led by the CEO to restore margin to 10% by 2026, supported by existing-business improvements, lower fixed costs, and new-business growth.

Habe pointed to the main financial drivers behind the year’s earnings: transportation and accessibility strength lifted sales, while Component Solutions suffered from lower precision reduction gear demand in the second half, higher procurement costs, and only partial price pass-through. He cited about 800 million yen of profit drag from one-time factors, including impairment losses in transport solution, accessibility solutions, Gilgen, and the TS Precision sale. For FY2024, he said the environment remains difficult, with sales expected to fall to 322 billion yen and operating profit to 12.8 billion yen, but dividend policy remains unchanged at 80 yen per share.

Analysts focused on exposure to China robot makers, the split between material handling and other robot applications, and the outlook for rail projects in Japan, China, Indonesia, and India. Management said China robot-maker exposure is only about 5% to 6% of total precision reduction gear sales because Nabtesco mainly serves high-end robotics manufacturers. On rail, the company said Japan remains the main market, China was about 20% last year, Italy about 10% through a subsidiary, Indonesia is a new project with deliveries starting in the second half of this year and continuing through 2026, and India has not yet produced orders.