I would like to express my gratitude for our shareholders' continued support and patronage.
In the fiscal year ended April 30, 2026, we worked to drive GMV growth and build up the guarantee balance in both the EC and Financial businesses. In the fourth quarter, we conducted pilot tests of each service aimed at the next stage of growth. Through these pilot tests, we were able to confirm improvements in leading indicators that point to future growth, and even while pursuing these initiatives, we achieved growth in both net sales and profit. This was made possible entirely thanks to your support, for which we are deeply grateful.
In June this year, we formulated and announced a new Mid-term Management Plan (for the fiscal years ending April 30, 2027 through April 30, 2029). To accelerate the realization of the "Raccoon BtoB Network" concept, which we have set out as our long-term vision, and to further enhance the momentum and execution capabilities of our growth strategy, in November 2025 we entered into a business alliance agreement with Advantage Partners, Inc. With this business alliance as a catalyst, we reviewed the previous Mid-term Management Plan (for the fiscal years ending April 30, 2026 through April 30, 2028) and formulated this new plan with a view to achieving further growth. As priority measures, we will work to accelerate the growth of existing services by strengthening sales and marketing, leverage M&A and alliances, and improve LTV through conversion to Group customers. Details of the new Mid-term Management Plan are available on our corporate website, and we would be honored if you could take a moment to review them.
The fiscal year ending April 30, 2027, the first year of the new Mid-term Management Plan, is positioned as a period of upfront investment to put our medium- to long-term growth on a solid footing. As we deliberately front-load growth investments such as advertising and promotion, profit for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2027 is expected to decline temporarily; however, we regard this as a positive investment toward greater growth in the future. We will steadily translate the effects of these investments into tangible results, aiming to recover and expand profit from the following fiscal year onward.
I sincerely ask for further support and encouragement from our shareholders.
