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Investing.com -- Daikin Industries reported a 5% year-on-year increase in first-quarter operating profit to ¥121.3 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate of ¥114.0 billion.
The company's operating profit margin improved by 0.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year, reaching 10.0%, up from 9.2% a year ago. This improvement was primarily driven by positive selling price effects.
Despite beating consensus estimates, the earnings were not considered stronger than market expectations when factoring in the effects of a hot summer and supply constraints faced by competitors in North America.
Daikin maintained its unchanged guidance for the fiscal year.
A factor analysis of the year-on-year change in first-quarter operating profit revealed several components: foreign exchange had a negative impact of ¥7.5 billion, raw material and distribution costs reduced profit by ¥13.5 billion, and tariff effects decreased profit by ¥7.5 billion. Fixed costs and other expenses created a ¥16.0 billion drag.
On the positive side, wider sales contributed ¥7.9 billion, selling price increases added ¥27.0 billion, and cost-cutting measures provided a ¥15.5 billion boost.
In the Americas region, Daikin reported a 4% year-on-year sales growth rate on a local currency basis. However, residential unitary sales volume declined by 13%. The company's win-back rate, representing the percentage of stores lost during last year's supply disruption that have now returned, stood at approximately 45% at the end of June.
The company indicated that there are still no significant signs of progress in resolving distributor inventory overheating, partly due to weak demand on a real basis. Additionally, steps taken by competitors facing supply constraints due to shortages of refrigerant filling parts have started alleviating those problems more quickly than anticipated.
Historically, Daikin shares have typically advanced in June-July on expectations of a hot summer before declining in August-September, a pattern that may repeat this year.
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