Aqualine Ltd.
6173・Growth Market・Services
Business
Aqualine Co., Ltd. is a water-related emergency repair service company founded in 1994. Following an administrative disposition by the Consumer Affairs Agency in August 2021, the company completely shifted from in-house construction work to a franchise store support business. It currently operates two segments: the "Water-Related Service Support Business," which relays repair requests to franchise stores nationwide through a 24/7, 365-day call center, and the "Advertising Media Business," operated by its wholly owned subsidiary Seikatsu Kyukyusha Co., Ltd. (Life Ambulance Co., Ltd.). Its main customers are households and stores facing water-related troubles, and services are provided through the franchise store network. Note that the company was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in June 2026.
Business Model
The company employs a mail-order business model in which customer calls are received at call centers (Yokohama and Tokyo), which then instruct the nearest franchise store service staff to visit. Franchise stores handle on-site work, while the company is responsible for call center operations, advertising customer acquisition, and franchise store management. Revenue consists of fees for services provided to franchise stores and advertising sales revenue generated by subsidiaries. The cost-effectiveness management of advertising expenses is a key structural factor affecting profit and loss.
Company Strengths
The company operates call centers at two locations, Yokohama and Tokyo, achieving nationwide coverage from Hokkaido to Okinawa. In FY2026 (ending March 2026)*, the average monthly call volume was maintained at 6,477 calls per month. The reception system capable of immediate response to urgent water-related troubles, combined with the franchise store network, forms the company's proprietary operational foundation. *Note: source states 2026年2月期 (fiscal year ending February 2026).
While advertising expenses were reduced from approximately ¥1.4 billion to approximately ¥900 million, the visit rate improved from 51.1% (fiscal year ended February 2025) to 59.0% (fiscal year ended February 2026). This numerically confirms that improvements in call quality and optimization of call center operations have enabled the efficient securing of visit volume from a limited number of incoming calls.
In the fiscal year ended February 2026, the company discontinued transactions with JUN Corporation and ROY Co., Ltd., while initiating new transactions with Ad Network Ltd. This represented a restructuring of the franchise store portfolio aimed at diversifying revenue dependence on the top four companies (UB Partner 30.9%, JUN Corporation 18.6%, ROY 17.3%, Ad Network 16.0%).
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
Revenue for FY2026 (ending March 2026)... wait, February 2026 fiscal year: revenue was ¥1,835 million (down 47.0% year on year). The main causes were the impact of the prior-year divestiture of the Mineral Water Business, and, in the Water-Related Service Support Business, a drastic reduction in listing advertising costs (from approximately ¥14 million to approximately ¥9 million per month), which cut the number of inbound calls roughly in half, from 11,956 per month in the prior period to 6,477 per month. Operating loss was ¥419 million (versus ¥400 million in the prior period), roughly flat, but with the addition of a ¥184 million provision for doubtful accounts (recorded as an extraordinary loss) resulting from the suspension of transactions with major franchise partner JUN Corporation, net loss attributable to owners of the parent doubled to ¥707 million (versus ¥347 million in the prior period). For the fiscal year ending February 2027, the company forecasts a return to profitability with revenue of ¥1,178 million and operating income of ¥49 million, but revenue is expected to decline a further 35.8%. While the structural increase in demand for water-related trouble repairs due to aging housing stock is a favorable external tailwind, the company is currently unable to benefit from this trend given its present business scale.
Growth Strategy
Monthly profitability through cost optimization, and integration into a life-infrastructure platform through franchise store expansion and M&A
While reducing advertising costs, concentrate investment on media with high cost-effectiveness to achieve both recovery in call volume and improvement in visit conversion rate. In FY2026 (ending March 2026), the visit conversion rate improved from 51.1% to 59.0%, but call volume remains at a low level, down 46% year-on-year. Achieving monthly operating profitability is the immediate goal.
Transition to a model in which the company's own employees do not perform repairs, and instead franchise store staff provide services in a mail-order sales format, in order to increase the number of franchise stores. Following the termination of transactions with JUN Corporation and ROY Co., Ltd., new transactions have begun with Ad Network Ltd. and others. A Franchise Store Sales Department and a Compliance & Legal Affairs Section have been established to strengthen the management structure.
Raise the overall level of customer service through the full-scale introduction of a call center system, aiming to improve the visit conversion rate and customer unit price. The policy is to also utilize existing customer touchpoint data to improve customer unit price and develop new business.
Utilize the consumer customer data accumulated through several thousand visit responses per month to achieve full-scale deployment of the SOS app, improve customer unit price, and develop new businesses. This is positioned as a measure aimed at building an integrated life-infrastructure platform.
Consider M&A and alliances focused on four priority areas: the energy field (renewable energy, electricity, gas, etc.), the healthcare and lifestyle support field, the real estate and insurance field, and the financial field. Call center operations and car leasing/rental operations are also under consideration. As nothing has been finalized, these are not included in the FY2027 (ending March 2027) earnings forecast.
Last updated: July 19, 2026