logo image
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs
MENU
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs

Advertise on Slator! Download the 2021 Online Media Kit Now

  • Slator Market Intelligence
  • Slator Advertising Services
  • Slator Advisory
  • Login
Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Advertisement
Honyaku Keeps Losing Ground in Core Translation Business

8 months ago

May 20, 2020

Honyaku Keeps Losing Ground in Core Translation Business

Financial Results ·

by Marion Marking

On May 20, 2020

8 months ago
Financial Results ·

by Marion Marking

On May 20, 2020

Honyaku Keeps Losing Ground in Core Translation Business

On May 18, 2020, Tokyo-listed Honyaku Center (2483.T), released consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.

Japan’s largest language service provider (LSP) reported that, due to the decline in revenues from its core Translation Business, overall sales for the 12 months to March 31 fell 3.8% year on year to JPY 11.55bn (USD 107m).

This continues the downward trend from the first nine months of the same fiscal year, where revenues slid marginally by 0.9% year on year to JPY 8.6bn (USD 80m) as covered by Slator back in February before widespread Covid-19 lockdowns were imposed across the globe. Japan stopped short of imposing a national lockdown backed by penalties and, instead, declared a state of emergency where social distancing was voluntary.

Advertisement

As before, the company stated that it was reporting results against the backdrop of a Japanese economy that had been affected by trade friction with the US and the slowdown of the Chinese economy. The company stated that business had also declined due to the coronavirus-related economic slowdown in the fourth quarter and “the outlook has remained extremely uncertain.”

Operating income dropped 9.6% year on year to JPY 813m (USD 7.5m); while ordinary income also declined by 9.1% to JPY 822m (USD 7.6m) against the comparable period the year prior.

Slator 2020 Language Industry Market Report

Data and Research, Slator reports
55 pages. Total market size, biz dev and sales insights, TMS & MT review, buyer segment analysis, M&A, Covid impact & outlook.
$480 BUY NOW

Back in the summer of 2018, Honyaku reorganized into five business units: Translation, Temporary Staffing, Interpretation, Convention, and Others.

Revenues from Honyaku’s core Translation Business fell 4.6% year on year to JPY 8.11bn (USD 75m). The company further broke out this figure into Patents, Pharmaceutical, Industrial, and Financial & Legal.

Patent orders remained strong and sales were up 5.5% year on year to JPY 2.26bn (USD 21m). This, however, could not compensate for the slump across all other sectors.

Net sales from the Pharmaceutical sector decreased 5.1% year on year to JPY 2.75bn (USD 26m). Orders in the Industrial segment were sluggish as well, leading to a 9.2% decline in net sales YoY to JPY 2.47bn (USD 23m).

In the Financial & Legal fields, sales were down 15.0% to JPY 632m (USD 5.9m) against the comparable period the previous year because of weak orders from corporate management departments, the company stated.

Honyaku’s Interpreter business was going strong heading into the pandemic, generating business mainly from financial and IR firms, according to the company. However, due to Covid-19 and the subsequent “sharp increase in cancellations accompanying the spread of viral infections,” sales increased only slightly by 1.6% year on year to JPY 1.02bn (USD 9.5m).

The Convention unit likewise posted growth in the pre-Covid era, under which most of the reporting period fell. Honyaku attributed the increase to events such as the 12th World Railway Research Conference “ which ended November 1, 2019, as well as from “medical associations, corporate events, etc.”

Thus, sales for the Convention business grew 15.5% year on year to JPY 782m (USD 7.3m). Of course, it is likely that most of that revenue will evaporate in the current financial year — and will be unlikely to return to pre-Covid levels for some time.

Temporary Staffing, where the company provides personnel “with high language skills” to the financial, IT, and pharmaceutical sectors, reported a marginal increase of 0.6% year on year to JPY 1.2bn (USD 11m).Sales under Others, meanwhile, dropped by 26.9% year on year to JPY 433m (USD 4m), which, as in previous quarters, the company attributed to the impact of Honyaku’s 2017 acquisition of Media Research Inc.

Shares in Japan’s largest LSP have been down 37% since the beginning of 2020. Market capitalization stood at a meagre USD 39m — less than half the revenue or 6x earnings at the time of writing.

TAGS

HonyakuHonyaku CenterJapanTokyo
SHARE
Marion Marking

By Marion Marking

Slator consultant and corporate communications professional who enjoys exploring Asian cities.

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SLATOR WEEKLY

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

SUBSCRIBE

SlatorSweepSlatorPro
ResearchRFP CENTER

PUBLISH

PRESS RELEASEDIRECTORY LISTING
JOB ADEVENT LISTING

Bespoke advisory including speaking, briefings and M&A

SLATOR ADVISORY
Advertisement

Featured Reports

See all
Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

by Slator

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

by Slator

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

by Slator

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

by Slator

Press Releases

See all
Rheinschrift Language Services – Strategic Improvements and Workforce Expansion in 2021

Rheinschrift Language Services – Strategic Improvements and Workforce Expansion in 2021

by Rheinschrift Language Services

Memsource Acquires Phrase

Memsource Acquires Phrase

by Memsource

Across Systems will be part of the Volaris Group

Across Systems will be part of the Volaris Group

by Across Systems GmbH

Upcoming Events

See All
  1. Handling Sensitive Information Webinar

    Handling Sensitive Calls with Limited English Proficient Consumers

    by Lionbridge

    · February 10

    Learn more about how Lionbridge Over-the-Phone Interpretation Services can help bridge communication gaps with limited...

    More info FREE

Featured Companies

See all
Text United

Text United

Memsource

Memsource

Wordbank

Wordbank

Protranslating

Protranslating

Seprotec

Seprotec

Versacom

Versacom

SDL

SDL

Smartling

Smartling

Lingotek

Lingotek

XTM International

XTM International

Smartcat

Smartcat

Translators without Borders

Translators without Borders

STAR Group

STAR Group

memoQ Translation Technologies

memoQ Translation Technologies

Advertisement

Popular articles

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

by Esther Bond

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

by Monica Jamieson

The Most Popular Language Industry Stories of 2020

The Most Popular Language Industry Stories of 2020

by Seyma Albarino

SlatorPod: The Weekly Language Industry Podcast

connect with us

footer logo

Slator makes business sense of the language services and technology market.

Our Company

  • Support
  • About us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to the Slator Weekly

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

© 2021 Slator. All rights reserved.

Sign up to the Slator Weekly

Join over 13,000 subscribers and get the latest language industry intelligence every Friday

Your information will never be shared with third parties. No Spam.