Fujisan Magazine Service Co., Ltd.

Business Details

Building on "Fujisan.co.jp," the company operates print and digital magazine subscription brokerage, comprehensive outsourced delivery and customer management for publishers (Fujisan VCS), digital magazine distribution for e-bookstores (via magaport), publisher EC site operation support (IDEA Inc.), and watch magazine publishing, web media, and own-brand watch sales (C's Factory Inc.). As a distribution platformer connecting individual and corporate subscribers with publishers through "magazines × IT," the company maintains its revenue base even amid the shrinking magazine publishing market.

Recent Overview

Revenue grew 1.8% year on year, but operating profit declined sharply by 38.7% due to increased SG&A expenses

In Q1 FY2026 (ending December 2026), the Magazine Sales Support Business secured revenue of ¥1,429 million (up 1.8% year on year), but operating profit fell to ¥49 million (down 38.7% year on year). SG&A expenses increased due to personnel costs, trial operation of new marketing measures, additional web content for SEO measures, and upfront investment in operating websites for new business areas. The number of recurring billing users decreased from the end of the prior fiscal year due to credit card billing errors caused by stricter identity verification requirements and a slowdown in new subscriber acquisition resulting from the policy to improve the efficiency of new acquisition costs. Meanwhile, digital magazine-related operations (the second growth driver) accounted for a steady 42.0% of group revenue. The overall magazine market declined approximately 3.5% year on year to ¥91.0 billion for the January-March 2026 period, while the bookstore return rate improved 1.1 percentage points year on year to 43.6%.

Key Products

Growth Drivers

• Continued growth of digital magazine all-you-can-read service distribution (magaport), expanding as a second pillar accounting for 42.0% of group revenue
• Development of new service areas leveraging digital magazine resources, including trials of article-based provision services and entry into the digital library business in partnership with Nippon Library Service, Ltd.
• Increasing inquiries from publishers for contracted operations such as delivery and customer management through Fujisan VCS
• Total registered users expanded by 33,349 from the end of the prior fiscal year to 4,468,989
• Contribution to revenue and profit from the consolidation of C's Factory Inc. as a subsidiary (September 2025)
• Continued profitability through scaling down the EC business and focusing on contracted operations

Risks

• Structural contraction of the magazine publishing market (total magazine sales for January-March 2026 declined approximately 3.5% year on year to ¥91.0 billion)
• Increase in credit card billing errors and decline in recurring subscribers due to stricter credit card identity verification regulations
• Slowdown in new subscriber acquisition due to the policy of improving efficiency in new subscription acquisition costs
• Profit pressure from increased SG&A expenses due to rising personnel costs and upfront investments
• Increased depreciation expenses due to higher software development investment (Q1 FY2026 depreciation was ¥82 million, versus ¥75 million in the prior-year period)
• Revenue dependency on Rakuten Books Network Inc. (¥998 million in FY2025, ending December 2025, 17.2% of revenue)