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H.I.S. Reports Results for the Full Year Ended October 2006; Sales Up 13.2%, Operating Income Up 24.7%(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Tokyo, Japan, Dec 20, 2006 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) --H.I.S. Co., Ltd. (TSE1: 9603), a leading travel and airline ticket agency, has announced results for the full year ended October 30, 2006. As the Group actively sought to increase share in the industry, consolidated net sales for the period improved 13.2% to JPY 328,980 million, operating income increased 32.2% to JPY 7,235 million and ordinary income rose 24.7% to JPY 8,082 million. Net income itself declined to JPY 4,867 million yen, however, attributable to gains on the sale of fixed assets posted in the previous fiscal period. "I am pleased to report that our committment to the key points in our business plan - internet sales, corporate and group travel, and escorted tour packages - continued to provide the energy for growth during this term," said Yoshio Suzuki, President of H.I.S. "Overseas departures from Japan increased only 1% overall, but our domestic activities continued strong as a result of our committment to our core customers - independent travelers, younger travelers, experienced overseas travelers and leisure travelers - while our overseas branches continued to show gains in both sales and ordinary income as well. "Going forward, we anticipate that the baby boom generation's keen interest in overseas travel will heighten demand for travel to destinations in Europe, while demand for leisure holidays to beaches and Asian cities will receive a boost particularly from more price-conscious young professional women in their thirties and families." said Suzuki. "Given these demographics we are particularly excited about our internet sales startegies, and our on-line hotel booking system which will come online around the spring of 2007." The Group is forcasting a 15.5% increase in sales through the year ending October 2007 to JPY 380,000 million, a 13.8% increase in operating ioncome to JPY 9,200 million and and increase in net income to JPY 5,250 million. Dividends per share have been revised upward 2.5 yen to 20.00 yen per share for this year. 1. Consolidated Financial Results for the Full Year Ended October 30, 2006 (In millions of yen) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Full year ended October 30, 2006 % 2005 % ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Net Sales 328,980 13.2 290,593 11.0 Operating Income 7,235 32.2 5,473 19.8 Ordinary Income 8,082 24.7 6,483 21.0 Net Income 4,867 (23.2) 6,340 130.5 Net Income/Share (y) 145.79 188.85 Fully Diluted Net Income/Share (y) -- -- Return on Equity (ROE) 11.5 17.3 Return on Assets (ROA) 9.3 8.4 Ordinary Income to Operating Revenue Ratio 2.5 2.2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Consolidated Financial Position ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As of October 30, 2006 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total Assets 92,520 80,929 Shareholders' Equity 44,149 41,209 Shlders' Eqty Ratio (%) 47.3 50.9 Shlders' Eqty/share (y) 1,311.29 1,233.20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Consolidated Cash Flows ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Full year ended October 30, 2006 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cash Flow from Operating Activities 9,610 (603) Cash Flow from Investing Activities (5,370) (3,202) Cash Flow from Financing Activities (732) (567) Cash and Cash Equivalents at Period End 36,515 32,557 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fiscal Year 2006 in Review In this fiscal year travel industry experienced a temporary lull in demand in response to international events such that the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) estimates that Japanese overseas departures increased only 1.0% over the previous year during from November 2005 through October 2006 period. In these circumstances, the HIS Group's travel operations business focused its resources on its core customers: independent travelers, younger travelers, experienced overseas travelers and leisure travelers. At the same time, the Group aimed to capture a greater share of the market for senior citizens by expanding its range of "Impresso" escorted tours, and also upgraded its "Executive Section," which is specifically aimed at the sale of high value-added products to affluent travelers. New contracts for "corporate and group travel" increased as a result of the Group's efforts to raise name recognition. The Group tailored its products specifically to meet the diversifying needs of companies and groups. In package tours, we moved beyond price competitiveness and consulting skills and endeavored to increase sales by offering our proprietary support services at our own overseas branches as well as additional services aimed at boosting sales, and also worked to differentiate HIS from its competitors. In group package travel, The Group took measures to differentiate our services and attract customers by boosting seat availability and improving our product planning, centered on our "Ciao" range of highly flexible packaged products. Further, the use of chartered flights to increase the range of overseas travel products not only eliminated seat unavailability at peak times, but also helped to develop new tourist destinations such as Mongolia and Hainan in China. Finally, The Group developed a range of promotional campaigns that increase the brand recognition of the Group through the use of the former baseball Major Leaguer Tsuyoshi Shinjo and "Team Aomori," the women's curling league that participated in the Torino Olympics. Other sales activities included the launch of the travel fund "Tame Ciao" with the aim of improving customer services. As a result of these focused sales activities, the travel operations business achieved sales of JPY 327,353 million and operating income of 9,298 million. Sales from hotel operations greatly improved to JPY 1,647 million and operating income rose to JPY 200 million, due to a strong domestic economy in Australia, continuing robust demand for Gold Coast hotel accommodation as well as the second hotel acquired in Brisbane in September 2005 and improvements in the occupancy ratio and customer unit sales. Forecasts for the Full Year Ending October 2007 In the travel operations business, although steep crude oil prices will remain a concern, we expect the employment environment to improve and personal spending to grow on the back of stronger corporate earnings, keeping demand for overseas travel on a gradual upturn. In this environment, The Group intends to develop a product lineup based on the concept of independent travel that meets the increasingly segmented needs of consumers. The Group will continue to promote measures to differentiate ourselves from other companies by further boosting our consulting capabilities. We will raise unit prices by upgrading our core "Ciao" range of package tours so that they do not please on price alone, but offer a complete range of high value-added packages that take advantage of our planning skills and luxury hotels. The Group will also upgrade our packages so that they specifically target young professional women and families. Next, The Group will endeavor to attract more senior citizens and affluent travelers - category in which demand is expected to grow - to our 'Impresso' range of escorted tours based primarily in Europe, and increase our packages for regions such as China that are expected to attract more travelers. The Group will continue to devote more management resources to corporate and group tours as well as Internet sales. In corporate sales, The Group will develop a system to manage business trips to complement our existing sales style, and will work to increase new contracts with large companies that travel overseas frequently - a market segment that we have not yet fully tapped. Moreover, in Internet sales The Group will expand our online reservation system so that customers can book airline tickets, reserve hotels and buy package tours online, and improve our ability to attract customers by upgrading our website with a special emphasis on user-friendliness and augmenting travel information and products. Customer service will be improved by improving booking terminals, reinforcing the divisions specializing in education and training and addressing the requests of our increasingly diverse customer segments. The Group is also focusing on the safety of our packages, and will ensure that our internal crisis management system is robust and thorough. Subsidiary ATB will continue to develop an efficient management system and aim for stable profitability. It will improve its sales to independent travelers and build its share in the niche market for travel arrangements to rarely visited regions. With competition intensifying every year for inter-city express buses, subsidiary Orion Tour will continue to reinforce its mainstay domestic group package tours and improve business efficiency by upgrading its call center and online sales. Subsidiary Cruise Planet will aim to leverage the guaranteed availability of seating for customers through direct booking contracts with ship companies, retain customers such as active seniors and attract new customers with a stronger product lineup. In hotel operations, The Group will take advantage of the strong demand for travel in Australia to maintain stable profitability at hotels in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and will also develop operations in Hokkaido to expand the scale of our business. Forecast for the Fiscal Year Ending October 31, 2007 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Interim % Full year % ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Net Sales 170,000 14.8 380,000 15.5 Ordinary Income 3,450 16.0 9,200 13.8 Net Income 2,000 14.8 5,250 7.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For more information, please visit the H.I.S. company IR website at http://www.his-j.com/company/ir_e_zaimu.htm . About H.I.S. Co., Ltd. H.I.S. Co., Ltd. was founded in 1980 and pioneered the Japanese discount airline ticket industry. Today the H.I.S. Group is comprised of 45 subsidiaries and 10 affiliated companies around the world, and has become a leader in the Japanese travel industry. For more information, please visit www.his-j.com. Contact: H.I.S. Co., Ltd. Takashi Nakatani Corporate Planning Division Tel. +81-3-5908-6029 Fax +81-3-5908-2423 [email protected] Copyright (C) 2006 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network K.K. |