IG Port, Inc. reported a slight drop of 1.60% in sales as of Q3 FY2023, reaching 8,415,640 thousand yen (≈62.82 million USD) after peaking at 8,552,550 thousand yen (≈63.84 million USD) for the same period in FY2022. However, the group’s net profit climbed by 8.98% to 675,580 thousand yen (≈5.04 million USD), which is not as significant of an increase as the jump experienced from FY2021 to FY2022. Nevertheless, this marks the group’s second time breaching the 8 billion yen (≈59.71 million USD) in sales mark, with net profit above the 600 million yen (≈4.48 million USD) threshold, making it the group’s best Q3 performance since FY2009.
Much of its success can be attributed to several factors, including the group’s involvement in high-profile projects, particularly Spy x Family, which was met with huge success. Additionally, older investments, while having slowed down, continue to drive sales for the group. The group’s Publishing Business is also a major contributor, noting its best performance to date since FY2012 (which I will discuss further below).
Please note that Q3 FY2023 covers the period from June 1, 2022, to February 28, 2023.
Video Production Business
IG Port delivered among others the following works from left to right:
Tengoku Daimakyou, Hikari no Ou and Ultraman Final for the quarter
As for this segment, the group has delivered the TV Anime series, including “Tengoku Daimakyou,” which began airing on April 1st, 2023, produced by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Production I.G. Apart from that, two streaming shows were noted here: Hikari no Ou, which was worked on by another wholly-owned studio, Signal.MD, of which Production I.G is part of its production committee and should see some contribution to sales via copyright holding; and Ultraman Final, produced by Production I.G and Sola Digital Arts. Hikari no Ou aired from January 14th to March 18th, 2023, while Ultraman Final will premiere on May 11th, 2023. Hikari no Ou will also receive a sequel season that will see Signal.MD returning to helm the project, therefore the group will be deriving further sales from the project. Not to forget, the group also released the film Rakudai Majo: Fuuka to Yami no Majo on March 31st, 2023, produced by Production I.G alongside other animation works for video games.
The lengthening production period, which in turn has driven up production costs, has caused some projects to plunge into the red, but no names were provided. Despite all this, the segment still reported a small increase in sales by 2.19% YoY to 4,672,881 thousand yen (≈34.88 million USD) with net profit soaring 562.37% to 155,000 thousand yen (≈1.16 million USD) from the loss of 33,523 thousand yen (≈250.21 thousand USD) the year before.
As for the breakdown of sales, the distribution of TV and Anime videos was the biggest contributor to sales at 3,599,116 thousand yen (≈26.86 million USD), while Anime film was the second-largest at 718,034 thousand yen (≈5.36 million USD). Looking at the period, this should be the total sales (for film) of Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These – Sakubou (September 2022), Rakudai Majo: Fuuka to Yami no Majo (March 31, 2023), and Soukyuu no Fafner: Behind the Line (January 20, 2023). Other Anime production-related sales and “Others” contributed a further 277,029 thousand yen (≈2.07 million USD) and 78,701 thousand yen (≈587.40 thousand USD).
Publishing Business
IG Port released the above volumes throughout the latest period via its wholly-owned subsidiary Mag Garden. From left to right: Mahoutsukai no Yome Volume 18, Reincarnation no Kaben Volume 17, Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku Volume 9
During the nine-month period, this segment released nine monthly magazines under the label “Comic Garden” and published 80 new Manga volumes, such as Mahoutsukai no Yome Volume 18, Reincarnation no Kaben Volume 17, Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku Volume 9, among others. The group noted particularly strong existing sales for Reincarnation no Kaben and Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai volumes. Although e-book sales have grown slowly for the latest quarter compared to the year before, it still increased by 17%. Sales of translated books outside of Japan also significantly increased, particularly in Europe and America, which may be the main reason for the higher growth in net sales.
As a result, the group witnessed a 12.14% jump in sales to 2,185,171 thousand yen (≈16.31 million USD), its first-ever breach into the 2 billion yen (≈14.93 million USD) club. However, net profit, while still a significant amount, has dropped 1.98% to 506,407 thousand yen (≈3.38 million USD). In comparison, the group only recorded 868,637 thousand yen (≈6.48 million USD) of sales and a loss of 46,032 thousand yen (≈343.61 thousand USD) for FY2012.
As for the breakdown, e-book sales were the highest at 1,409,037 thousand yen (≈10.52 million USD) compared to Manga and book sales of 433,369 thousand yen (≈3.23 million USD). This would mean that the 40,000 copies sold for Mahoutsukai no Yome Volume 18, according to Oricon for the period between September 5 to September 11, 2022, are far less than its actual performance. The same can be said for Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku Volume 5, which made its debut at 35,926 copies on Oricon’s list in the first five days. Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai Volume 5 was seen charting the same week with Mahoutsukai no Yome Volume 18 at 19,196 copies sold in the first three days while the Light Novel’s 8th volume was at 8,677 copies sold in the first three days on Oricon’s list. “Others” earning contributed another 342,764 thousand yen (≈2.56 million USD) to make up the total.
Please note that as for Mahoutsukai no Yome Volume 19, it was released on March 10, 2023, therefore, it will be out of scope, but will be considered for Q4. Reincarnation no Kaben Volume 17 did not even make it onto Oricon Top 30 and Top 50 sales chart in the first 6 days of its release.
Copyright Business
IG Port derived copyright sales from the following shows among others from left to right: Spy x Family, Shingeki no Kyojin and Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These
In this segment, the group generated revenue from the secondary use of titles such as Spy x Family, Shingeki no Kyojin, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These, Koukaku Kidoutai, Ao Ashi, Haikyuu!!, and others. The involvement of Production I.G in Hikari no Ou as a production committee member should also contribute to sales here. However, sales from copyright fees for older existing titles have decreased, leading to an overall decline in sales. Nevertheless, the group noted that sales from Spy x Family remained strong both domestically and internationally even after the TV broadcast ended.
As a result, net sales decreased by 26.66% to 1,318,462 thousand yen (≈9.84 million USD), leading to a 26.66% drop in profit to 292,118 thousand yen (≈2.18 million USD) year-over-year. Although this is lower than what the group earned in FY2021 and FY2022, it is still better than FY2020’s 215,380 thousand yen (≈ million USD) in both sales and profit.
Breaking down the numbers, the segment earned the most from copyright fees for video content at 579,475 thousand yen (≈ million USD), while royalties earned from the publication of original works and “Others” stood at 175,592 thousand yen (≈ million USD) and 31,967 thousand yen (≈1.61 million USD) respectively. Looking at the overall’s segment performance, we can expect copyright sales from titles for the full year to have a less significant impact than the prior year.
Other Business
In this segment, the group earned revenue from various sources such as magazine illustrations, character product sales, and smartphone applications, but they did not provide specific details regarding how much was earned from each series or projects. Overall, sales increased by 2.56% year-over-year to 239,123 thousand yen (≈1.78 million USD), although this was not the strongest performance as sales were much higher in FY2016 and FY2017. However, the segment’s profit showed a significant increase of 171.21% to 17,006 thousand yen (≈126.92 thousand USD) from the loss incurred in the previous year. This is the third largest profit recorded in this segment since FY2012.
IG Port’s Group of Companies
Key Takeaways:
- Despite a slight decrease in overall sales, net profit reached an all-time high.
- Sales and profit in the Video Production sector increased, driven by Tengoku Daimakyou, Hikari no Ou, and Ultraman Final.
- The Publishing Business reported its highest sales and second-highest profit, but e-book sales experienced a slowdown.
- The Copyright Business saw a decline due to investments in older, declining areas.
- Spy x Family continued to be strong for Copyright Business domestically and internationally despite its TV broadcast already ended.
- Other Business areas saw year-over-year increases in both sales and profit.
The Q3 FY2023 reports for IG Port were published on April 14, 2023 (Friday), sending stocks down 2.62% to close at 2,644 yen (≈ million USD) from 2,715 yen (≈ million USD) the day before, very likely due to profit taking.
IG Port, Inc. is incorporated in Japan with its head office in Musashino-shi. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under ticket symbol: 3791.
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Note: All currency conversion were done at the time of writing.
Featured Image:
Tengoku Daimakyou
Previous:
Half-year FY2023
Sources:
3rd Quarter Securities Report FY2023
3rd Quarter Summary of Accounts FY2023
Google Charts:
Group Sales and Net Profit or Loss
Video Production Business’ Sales and Segment Profit or Loss
Publishing Business’ Sales and Segment Profit or Loss
Copyright Business’ Sales and Segment Profit or Loss
Other Business’ Sales and Segment Profit or Loss
Video Production Business Sales Breakdown
Publishing Business Sales Breakdown
Copyright Sales Breakdown
Visualisation:
IG Port’s FY2023 3rd Quarter Performance
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