AuBEX CORPORATION
3583・Standard Market・Textiles & Apparels
Business
Obex Co., Ltd. is a company founded in 1892 and listed on the TSE Standard Market. As a group of six companies including three consolidated subsidiaries, it operates two segments: the Techno Products Business (marker pen tips for writing instruments, pen tips for cosmetics) and the Medical Products Business (medical devices such as the Vessel Fuser (Drug Infusion Device) and guide wire for angiography). The company has applied and evolved the precision processing technology cultivated in hat manufacturing, expanding its business domain from writing instruments to medical devices. Overseas sales account for approximately 60% of total revenue, with global operations centered on China and other Asian markets. Consolidated net sales for FY2026 (ending March 2026) were ¥6,015 million.
Business Model
In the Techno Products Business, the company itself and its Chinese subsidiary (Tianjin Aobei Kusi Jiyan Co., Ltd.) perform precision grinding processing and supply components to writing instrument manufacturers and cosmetics manufacturers. The Medical Products Business operates under a vertically integrated model in which subsidiary Obex Medical manufactures medical devices that the company then sells. The company does not engage in make-to-order production, instead pursuing stable supply through forecast-based production. By investing ¥120 million in R&D expenses to continuously develop high-value-added products, the company maintains price competitiveness, and it secures earnings through improved production efficiency driven by capital expenditure (¥472 million in the current period).
Company Strengths
Since its founding in 1892, the company has evolved its processing technology from hat manufacturing to pen tip production, and further into medical device manufacturing. Its core technology of micro flow rate control can be horizontally deployed across multiple fields including writing instruments, cosmetics, and medical devices, and the company strives to secure competitive advantage by actively promoting the acquisition of new intellectual property rights.
As of the end of FY2026 (ending March 2026), the equity ratio stood at 71.3% (up 3.2 points year on year), with net assets of ¥7,251 million and cash and cash equivalents of ¥2,527 million. While maintaining sound finances with almost no debt, the company has the financial capacity to plan capital expenditures totaling over ¥1.5 billion over the three years of its medium-term plan.
The company operates two segments: the Techno Products Business (net sales of ¥4,236 million, profit margin of 18.1%) and the Medical Products Business (net sales of ¥1,779 million, profit margin of 9.1%). In FY2026 (ending March 2026), while the Techno Products Business saw a decline in profit, the Medical Products Business grew, with net sales up 4.6% and segment profit up 31.1%, thereby reducing the risk of dependence on a single business.
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
Revenue over the past five fiscal years bottomed out at ¥5,315 million in FY2023, recovered to a record ¥6,036 million in FY2025, but in FY2026 slipped slightly to ¥6,015 million (down 0.3% year on year), entering a plateau. Operating profit dropped sharply from ¥841 million (FY2025) to ¥615 million (FY2026), a decline of 26.9%, while the operating margin fell 3.7 percentage points from 13.9% to 10.2%. The main causes were a slowdown in second-half demand for Marker Pen Tips for Writing Instruments destined for Asia within the Techno Products Business, together with an increase in cost of sales. As external factors, rising raw material prices stemming from the situation in the Middle East and the progression of yen depreciation pushed up costs and squeezed earnings. On the other hand, thanks to a ¥75 million reversal in income tax adjustment, net income for the period was limited to ¥573 million (down 1.2% year on year), maintaining relative resilience on a net income basis. The equity ratio improved to 71.3%, indicating enhanced financial soundness.
Growth Strategy
Under the 9th Medium-Term Management Plan "Orvex Vision 2027," the company is promoting ESG management, strengthening its earnings base, and developing human capital.
To address soaring raw material prices and rising wage costs, the company is promoting price pass-through to sales prices, improved production efficiency, and total cost reduction. In FY2026 (ending March 2026), ¥439 million was invested in property, plant and equipment acquisitions, accelerating labor-saving and rationalization investments. Restoring profitability in the Techno Products Business is the top priority.
Through strengthened promotional activities at domestic and overseas medical device exhibitions and academic conferences, the Medical Products Business achieved net sales of ¥1,779 million (up 4.6% year on year) and segment profit of ¥161 million (up 31.1% year on year) in FY2026 (ending March 2026). The company continues to expand sales into new clinical fields such as anesthesia, chemotherapy, urology, and gastroenterology, along with continued capital investment (¥285 million, a substantial increase year on year).
Activities to reduce environmental impact are positioned as one of the basic strategies of the 9th Medium-Term Management Plan, promoting ESG management. Specific numerical targets and detailed measures are not disclosed in the financial results summary, but this remains a core initiative for enhancing corporate value that continues to be implemented.
Amid labor shortages and rising wages becoming key management challenges, human capital development is set as one of the basic strategies of the 9th Medium-Term Management Plan. The company aims to maintain medium- to long-term competitiveness by strengthening personnel in technical, sales, and administrative departments. Specific measures and KPI details are not disclosed in the financial results summary.
Last updated: July 19, 2026