Main Q&A at Earnings Investor Briefing
for FY2025

The Enterprise segment will serve as the primary driver. In addition to scaling existing businesses, we expect AI-related businesses with high profit margins to contribute significantly. For the Consumer segment, revenue is expected to trend upward due to the impact of price plan revisions. On the other hand, since an increase in costs is also anticipated, the overall plan reflects relatively stable growth. As LY Corporation and PayPay Corporation are listed companies, I cannot provide specific details. However, we expect continuous growth in the Media & EC segment. In the Financial segment, PayPay is performing very well, and we also have high expectations for growth in the financial field.

While AI-related businesses in the Enterprise segment are expected to become future growth drivers, we anticipate that their full-scale expansion will occur from FY2027 onward.

It is reasonable to view the commercialization of AI-related businesses and the recording of their profits in the Enterprise segment as factors contributing to the profit increase.

Key components include "Crystal intelligence" and the utilization of GPUs that we have been preparing. Although SoftBank Corp. is going to launch these sequentially from FY2026, the full-scale contribution to earnings is expected from FY2027 onward, and the plan is based on a subsequent growth curve. While "Crystal intelligence" is incorporated as one element, we view it relatively conservatively in the current plan.

One factor causing the divergence is the structure where we expect operating income growth in subsidiaries with large non-controlling interests, such as LY Corporation, PayPay Corporation, and SB OAI Japan. Furthermore, the plan incorporates an increase in financial costs due to rising interest rates. Additionally, FY2025 includes a temporary boost from tax effects, which contributes to the difference in growth rates between operating income and net income in FY2026. The plan has been formulated based on certain assumptions, but we recognize that expanding net income is a significant management issue and intend to address it.

This refers to the remeasurement gain on step acquisitions recorded in the Media & EC segment during the first half of FY2025.

The main factors for the increase in sales commissions and sales promotion expenses are the amortization of capitalized sales commission and the provision for device purchase support programs. Regarding the former, while the amortization of sales commissions paid in previous fiscal years will increase for the time being, the total amount of newly paid contract costs has decreased as SoftBank Corp. changed its customer acquisition policy from the second half of FY2025. Consequently, the structure is such that future amortization expenses will decrease. As for the latter, the Company expects the burden to be heavy in the first half and then ease slightly thereafter. We estimate the amount for each of these two factors to be at the lower end of several tens of billions of yen.

For contract costs, we perform an impairment test based on data every period. SoftBank Corp. determined that there were no factors requiring impairment in FY2025.

The main reason is the increase in sales commissions and sales promotion expenses. Since FY2024 and the first half of FY2025 were periods during which we strengthened customer acquisition, the Company expects that the amortization of sales commissions will begin to settle down from FY2027. While the exercise rate of the device purchase support program is on an upward trend, the program was revised last year to include a program usage fee, and we expect this to settle down slightly from FY2027 onward. Also, factors other cost-increase factors have also emerged, and SoftBank Corp. expects stable growth in profit for the Consumer segment even in FY2027.

While a portion will be transferred to the Enterprise segment following the commercialization of AI, AI-related expenses that continue as research and development will remain in "Other." Research and development other than AI, such as HAPS, is also continuing, and these costs are incorporated. Not all uses have been finalized; we may use the funds as the businesses progress, or they may ultimately go unused. Although the ¥100.0 billion has been estimated based on a certain level of item-by-item buildup, the design is based on the Company's stance of wanting to secure a framework that can be used for future growth. Development costs for innovative batteries are not large.

Under the dividend targets shown in the Medium-term Management Plan, the payout ratio is expected to gradually decline. This was decided based on internal discussions from the perspective of balancing growth investment and shareholder returns in accordance with the capital allocation policy. While no clear target value has been set for the final level of the payout ratio, the Company believes the level shown for FY2030 is appropriate from the perspective of that balance.

As a general principle, if investment opportunities are limited and surplus funds are generated, additional shareholder returns may be considered. The target for dividend per share was presented to indicate our general approach, and we do not consider it to be fixed.