ENVALITH
株式会社メディア工房 logo

Media Kobo,Inc.

3815・Growth Market・Information & Communication

Official website
株式会社メディア工房 logo
Media Kobo,Inc.3815

Business

Media Kobo, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is listed on the TSE Growth Market as a digital content company. Its core business, the Fortune-Telling Business, accounts for approximately 94% of revenue, delivering fortune-telling content through its own websites and a variety of platforms including ISPs, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, SoftBank, Apple, and Google. Its main customer base consists of women in their 20s to 40s, and it offers services combining 1-to-N content distribution with 1-to-1 phone and chat fortune-telling readings. As a second segment, the company operates the Entertainment & Matching Service Business, which integrates SNS and real-world elements, as well as Other Businesses, which consolidates early-stage new businesses. The group operates through three consolidated subsidiaries.

Business Model

The main revenue source is usage fees (monthly subscription and pay-per-use) charged to users for fortune-telling content. The company utilizes billing collection agency services via ISPs, telecom carriers, and Apple/Google, with LINE Yahoo (28.5% of sales), NTT DOCOMO (9.5%), and KDDI (8.6%) as major sales channels. Content production is commissioned to fortune-tellers for supervision, under a variable-cost structure in which royalties are paid in proportion to sales. The Phone & Chat Fortune-Telling Service (1-to-1 Service) provides high added value as a person-to-person service.

Company Strengths

Starting with an information provision agreement with Nifty in 1998, the company has concluded long-term contracts with NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, SoftBank, Yahoo, LINE Yahoo, Apple, and Google. It has built a distribution network covering all major platforms, securing a stable sales channel with LINE Yahoo alone accounting for 28.5% of net sales.

In FY2025 (ending August 2025), the Fortune-Telling Business recorded net sales of ¥1,761 million and operating profit of ¥385 million, for a segment operating margin of 21.9%. Even as the group as a whole posted an operating loss, this core business generated stable earnings on a standalone basis, with the Phone & Chat Fortune-Telling Service (1-to-1 Service) achieving a year-on-year profit increase through operational efficiency gains from the introduction of a new system.

Since obtaining Privacy Mark certification (JIS Q 15001) in 2007, the company has continued to renew it every two years. It maintains a system for appropriately managing personal data—such as date of birth, concerns, and hobbies/preferences—collected in the Fortune-Telling Business, which also functions as an infrastructure for utilization in the BtoB Data Marketing & Data Utilization Service.

ENVALITH's Perspective

Cumulative operating loss for the first three quarters of FY2026 (ending March 2026) came to ¥396 million, a marked deterioration from ¥106 million in the same period last year. Revenue continued to decline, coming in at ¥1,220 million (down 14.2% year on year), while selling, general and administrative expenses rose to ¥926 million (versus ¥814 million in the same period last year). In addition to one-off costs such as IR-strengthening consultant fees, relocation costs of ¥18 million for the head office move, and shareholder benefit program costs of ¥62 million, upfront investment costs in the Data & Technology Business also weighed on results, causing the loss to expand sharply. The full-year earnings forecast (operating loss of ¥495 million, net loss of ¥587 million) remains unrevised, which presupposes a narrowing of the loss in the fourth quarter alone.

The cost-reduction measures announced in June 2026 (discontinuation of new framework development, reduction of outsourcing costs, in-house development of generative AI) are expected to deliver their main effect primarily from FY2027 (ending March 2027) onward. At the end of the third quarter, cash and deposits stood at ¥963 million (down ¥633 million from the end of the previous fiscal year), and net assets were ¥586 million (equity ratio of 35.4%). Convertible bond-type bonds with subscription rights to shares of ¥300 million remain outstanding within fixed liabilities, and if the full-year net loss forecast of ¥587 million materializes, a further decline in financial capacity is expected. Note that there is no note regarding going-concern assumptions.

The segment operating margin of the Fortune-Telling Business fell to 14.5% for the cumulative first three quarters of FY2026 (ending March 2026), down from 22.2% in the same period last year. This reflects a combination of delays in bolstering new content due to delayed development of the new framework, the departure of popular fortune-tellers, and changes in user behavior driven by the spread of generative AI. Meanwhile, company-wide costs (administrative department costs) ballooned to ¥405 million (versus ¥312 million in the same period last year), entrenching a structure in which company-wide costs exceed the profit generated by the Fortune-Telling Business. As an external factor, the risk that the rapid spread of generative AI technology could substitute for demand for chat-based fortune-telling services warrants continued close monitoring.

Growth Strategy

Rebuilding the profit structure through restructuring while diversifying into BtoB and AI utilization centered on fortune-telling data assets

Discontinuation of new framework development, reduction of outsourcing costs, and promotion of in-house operations utilizing generative AI. Transfer of the unprofitable business (LoungeRange) completed in May 2026. The main effects are expected to materialize in full from FY2027 (ending August 2027) onward.

Efforts include concentrating management resources on highly profitable existing content, strengthening customer acquisition channels using YouTube and other platforms, expanding theme-based content, and strengthening collaboration with the Phone & Chat Fortune-Telling Service (1-to-1 Service). The cumulative segment profit margin for the third quarter was 14.5%, continuing to decline year-on-year, indicating that recovery is still underway.

Development and provision of BtoB Data Marketing & Data Utilization Service utilizing preference and behavioral data accumulated through the Fortune-Telling Business. CharaDen has maintained profitability since the second quarter. The BtoB service remains in the development investment stage, and the segment as a whole recorded an operating loss of ¥143 million.

Promoting in-house operations utilizing generative AI to reduce outsourcing costs while improving service quality. Reductions in outsourcing costs are reported to have taken effect gradually from the third quarter onward, but overall SG&A expenses have continued to increase year-on-year.

The medium-term management plan covering FY2026 (ending August 2026) through FY2028 (ending August 2028) is currently being formulated. It is expected to be disclosed promptly once finalized, with specific numerical targets and measures yet to be announced.

Last updated: July 17, 2026