ENVALITH
AREホールディングス株式会社 logo

ARE Holdings, Inc.

5857・Prime Market・Nonferrous Metals

Official website
AREホールディングス株式会社 logo
ARE Holdings, Inc.5857

Business

ARE Holdings is a pure holding company with subsidiaries including Asahi Pretec and Asahi Metal Fine under its umbrella. In its core Precious Metals Business, the company recovers and refines gold, silver, palladium, platinum, rhodium and other precious metals from electronic materials, dental materials, jewelry, automotive catalysts and other sources, and sells them to trading companies, semiconductor manufacturers, jewelry manufacturers and others. In addition to its domestic plants, the company has established operations in North America (the U.S. and Canada) and Asia (Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and India), building a global precious metals recycling network. In its Environmental Conservation Business, the company, through an equity-method affiliate, handles industrial waste collection, transport and intermediate treatment, contributing to the formation of a recycling-oriented society. Consolidated revenue for FY2026 (ending March 2026) was ¥569,992 million.

Business Model

The company collects precious metal-containing scrap from various industries such as electronics, dental, jewelry, and catalysts, processes it into high-purity bullion at domestic and overseas refining plants, and sells it. In North America, in addition to refining, it also operates warehousing and trading businesses, diversifying its revenue sources. The structure aims to improve profitability by expanding sales of premium-priced recycled precious metals and retail-oriented products. The Precious Metals Business accounts for approximately 99% of revenue, while the Environmental Conservation Business contributes stably through equity-method investment gains/losses (¥1,857 million in FY2026 (ending March 2026)).

Company Strengths

Through Asahi Refining USA Inc. and Asahi Refining Canada Ltd., the Company holds the largest refining scale in the North American region. It generates revenue across four segments—refining, products, warehousing, and trading—and in FY2026 (ending March 2026), the North America Refining & Processing Business achieved year-on-year profit growth across all segments. The diversified revenue base, which avoids dependence on a single function, is a key characteristic.

Asahi Pretec has obtained the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) COP certification (2019) and COC certification (2021). Its gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion hold internationally recognized brand accreditations such as LBMA and LPPM. Full-scale operation of ISO17025 also began in FY2026 (ending March 2026), supporting customer trust and new business development by ensuring the transparency and objectivity of analytical values.

In addition to its main domestic plants (including the Bando Plant), the Company operates facilities in North America, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, and India. In April 2025, the Asahi Pretec Bando Plant was completed, introducing new technologies, new equipment, and a production management system. At the Asahi Metal Fine Bando Plant, unmanned production utilizing robotics has been achieved, resulting in expanded production capacity and cost reductions.

ENVALITH's Perspective

Operating profit for FY2026 (ending March 2026) came to ¥37,088 million (up ¥17,103 million, or +85.6%, year on year), a substantial increase. The gross profit margin improved to 7.9% from 5.7% in the prior period, and other operating expenses declined sharply to ¥898 million from ¥2,639 million. While rising precious metals prices for gold, platinum, silver, and others provided an external tailwind, the company's own efforts in improving profitability and cost structure across each segment also contributed to the profit expansion, confirming that the earnings improvement is not merely a function of market conditions.

Operating cash flow for FY2026 (ending March 2026) was -¥99,385 million, a sharp reversal from +¥14,685 million in the prior period. The main cause was a ¥71,236 million increase in inventories, from ¥51,178 million to ¥122,415 million. This appears to reflect inventory buildup amid rising precious metals prices, and the company financed this through financing activities cash flow (+¥91,878 million), via bond issuance (¥39,833 million) and long-term borrowings (¥40,160 million). The increase in interest-bearing debt and the decline in cash balances (from ¥17,555 million to ¥10,336 million) warrant continued monitoring.

Equity attributable to owners of the parent surged from ¥126,301 million to ¥230,555 million, driven by new share issuance (¥24,141 million), disposal of treasury shares (¥7,286 million), and comprehensive income for the period (¥80,352 million, of which ¥49,631 million was cash flow hedges), improving the equity ratio to 37.5%. However, total liabilities also remained at a high level of ¥384,833 million. The forecast for FY2027 (ending March 2026) anticipates revenue of ¥680,000 million, operating profit of ¥41,000 million, and profit attributable to owners of the parent of ¥29,000 million, projecting increased revenue and profit. Under the policy of targeting a dividend payout ratio of 40%, an increase in the annual dividend to ¥135 (from ¥125 in the prior period) is also planned, with the balance between shareholder returns and financial soundness remaining a continued focus.

Growth Strategy

Pursuing a multi-axis growth strategy encompassing new precious metals fields, overseas expansion, and environmental DX, aiming to become a leading contributor to the 2030 circular economy

Leveraging the largest refining scale in North America as a foundation, the company is expanding value-added services including products, warehousing, trading, and financing. In FY2026 (ending March 2026), profit increased year on year across all fields, with agile responses to fluctuations in gold and silver supply/demand driven by changes in U.S. trade policy proving effective. The company will continue to promote revenue diversification in the North America business.

Promoting the precious metals recycling business in Thailand, India, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. By capturing manufacturing growth and rising precious metals demand in each country and strengthening the global collection and refining network, this is positioned as a growth pillar to complement the decline in collection volume in the domestic business.

Against a backdrop of rising sustainability awareness, the company succeeded in increasing year-on-year sales volume of recycled precious metals with price premiums and of retail precious metal products. The company continues to strengthen its differentiated sales strategy leveraging responsible precious metals management certification.

Implemented site reorganization including the relocation and consolidation of the washing process, among others, from the Nagano plant to Bando City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and the reconstruction of the industrial waste treatment facility at the Ijuin plant. Impairment losses were significantly reduced from ¥2,038 million in the previous period to ¥494 million. Through improved profitability and cost structure improvements, the company has established a framework to increase operating profit even in fields where collection volume has declined.

In the industrial waste treatment business conducted through the equity-method affiliate Renatus Co., Ltd., the company is promoting the enhancement of digital platform functions and services, and advancing a circular society through venous-arterial (recycling-manufacturing) collaboration. Equity in earnings of the affiliate for FY2026 (ending March 2026) remained at a stable level of ¥1,857 million, comparable to the previous period (¥1,931 million).

The company has set a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 42% by 2030 compared to 2023 levels and has declared carbon neutrality by 2050. It is implementing measurement and third-party verification of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and promoting disclosure and response in line with TCFD recommendations. Climate change response is positioned as one of the business materiality issues.

Last updated: July 19, 2026