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Japan – New sales up nearly 6% at staffing firm SMS

02 November 2020

SMS Co. Ltd. (2175:TYO), a recruitment firm specialising in the elder and medical care fields, reported Thursday that net sales rose 5.7% in the first half of its fiscal year that ended 30 September. Profit jumped by 19.6% at the Tokyo-based company that ranks as the 31st-largest staffing firm in Japan.

Still, SMS reported that Covid-19 negatively affected second-quarter sales.

The company has operations in Japan and several other Asian countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

(JPY millions) Six months to Sept. 30, 2020 Six months to Sept. 30, 2019 % change Six months to Sept. 30, 2020 (USD millions)
Net sales                            18,638                           17,628 5.7% 177
Gross profit                            16,806                           15,824 6.2% 159
Operating profit                              2,949                              2,074    
Profit                              2,775                              2,319 19.6% 26

SMS noted that profits rose mainly because of a reduction in the number of new hires.

Guidance

SMS forecast full-year revenue for the year ending 31 March will be up 6.5%.

Share price and market cap

Shares in SMS closed at JPY 3,070 (USD 29.39) on Friday, 9.71% below their 52-week high; the company had a market cap of JPY 259.53 billion (USD 2.48 billion).