The company saw an increase in printer consumable sales and a dip in hardware sales, despite a profit decline from impairment loss and plans a dividend increase.
Brother Industries has released its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. Despite adverse market conditions and a notable impairment loss in the Domino business, the company managed to keep its overall sales revenue steady at ¥822.9 billion ($6.17 billion/ €5.68 billion). However, operating profit fell by 10.1% to ¥49.8 billion ($373.5 million/ €343.62 million), and net income dropped 19% to ¥31.6 billion ($237 million/ €218.04 million).
Brother Industries’ Printing and Solutions (P&S) business demonstrated significant growth, with sales reaching ¥514.9 billion ($3.86 billion/ €3.56 billion) and segment profit increasing to ¥62.5 billion ($468.75 million/ €431.25 million). This growth was driven by higher consumables sales and efficient cost management, which effectively offset challenges in hardware sales, leading to a robust performance.
The Domino business is a part of Brother Industries, specialising in coding, marking, and digital printing technologies. Sales revenue increased to ¥109.6 billion ($822 million/ €757.2 million), driven by firm consumables sales despite a drop in hardware sales due to decreased demand for capital investments.
Segment profit decreased due to higher selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs resulting from enhanced sales activities and updates to backend business systems. At the same time, a significant impairment loss was recorded on a portion of goodwill due to the ongoing impact of currency fluctuations and a challenging market environment.
Looking ahead, Brother Industries aims for revenue growth to ¥880 billion ($6.6 billion/ €6.08 billion) in fiscal year 2024, emphasising expansion in the machinery sector while maintaining profitability in printing and communications. The company will raise the annual dividend to 100 yen per share for FY2024, marking a 16-yen increase from the previous year.
