The OEM has published its consolidated financial results for the 2017-18 fiscal year, with plenty of positive news for the Japanese corporation.
Brother saw its total revenue for the FY2017-18 (ended March 31st) hit ¥712.9 billion ($6.5 billion/€5.47 billion), an increase of 11.2 percent from the figure of ¥641.1 billion ($5.84 billion/€4.92 billion) the year before.
Within this, there were further rises in the OEM’s operating profit, up 16.1 percent to ¥68.6 billion ($625.5 million/€526.6 million) from ¥59.1 billion ($538.9 million/€453.7 million), and its business segment profit, up 27.1 percent to ¥77.2 billion ($704 million/€592.7 million) from ¥60.7 billion ($553.4 million/€466 million).
Brother also witnessed a large rise in its comprehensive income for the period, going from ¥21.2 billion ($193.3 million/€162.7 million) in 2016-17 to ¥63.4 billion ($578 million/€486.7 million) in 2017-18; an increase of 198.2 percent.
At the same time, the OEM has released its consolidated forecast for the 2018-19 fiscal year, and it appears that Brother are not expecting to maintain the success of ’17-18.
Revenue is predicted to total ¥690 billion ($6.29 billion/€5.29 billion), a dip of 3.2 percent, while the business segment profit is estimated to fall 8.1 percent, to ¥71 billion ($647.2 million/€545 million).
There is more optimism with the operating profit forecast, however, with the company expecting a total of ¥70 billion ($637.9 million/€537.3 million), an increase of 1.9 percent on the financial year just ended.
Brother has also announced a revision of its dividend forecast for 2017-18, with an increase to the year-end dividend per share of ¥6 ($0.05/€0.04), taking it from the previous ¥24 ($0.21/€0.18) to ¥30 ($0.27/€0.23). This also means the annual cash dividend per share has gone up from ¥48 ($0.43/€0.36) to ¥54 ($0.49/€0.41).
