KOWA CO.,LTD.

Business Details

This is a manufacturing and sales business for welfare equipment centered on Silver Car (walking cart), Walking Aid (Zista Series), and Cane products. Main products are manufactured at the company's own factory in Dongguan, China, and domestically deployed through diverse sales channels including the nursing care route, chain store route, and OEM route. As the core segment accounting for approximately 85% of consolidated net sales, growth is driven by walking aids for the long-term care insurance rental market. The company promotes product differentiation combining functionality and design through its proprietary brands "TacaoF" and "AURULA", among others.

Recent Overview

Driven by solid orders for walking aids and cost reduction effects, segment profit improved significantly, up 60.2% year on year.

In the first quarter of FY2027 (ending March 2027) (March-May 2026), repeat orders from existing customers remained solid, centered on the flagship walking aid products, and renewal/additional demand also increased steadily. Net sales to external customers came to ¥1,574 million (up 6.9% year on year). While the impact of rising import costs due to yen depreciation continued, improvements in production efficiency and cost reduction efforts contributed, and segment profit increased significantly to ¥387 million (up 60.2% year on year), with the segment profit margin improving substantially to 23.1% (versus 15.4% in the same period of the prior year).

Key Products

Growth Drivers

• Continued solid underlying demand for walking assistance devices and bathing-related products amid the progression of an aging population
• Steady increase in repeat orders from existing customers and in renewal/additional demand at sales destinations
• Expansion of the product lineup through the new launch of the "Zista R" walking aid (with built-in speed-reduction brake)
• Solid trends in the nursing care route for the long-term care insurance rental market
• Improved profitability through ongoing efforts to improve production efficiency and reduce costs
• Expanded appeal to the design-conscious out-of-pocket purchase segment through the new "AURULA" brand
• Diversification of sales channels (mass retailers, EC, overseas sales routes) to address demand segmentation
• Market trends emphasizing "ease of use," "safety," and "design appeal" amid the advancement of ICT, AI, and nursing care robot utilization

Risks

• Increasing pressure on procurement costs (purchase costs) from China due to continued yen depreciation
• Increase in selling, general and administrative expenses due to persistently high logistics and energy costs
• Occurrence of temporary expenses associated with the relocation of the production plant of the overseas subsidiary (Dongguan Kowa Household Daily Necessities Co., Ltd.)
• Risk of curtailed capital investment by nursing care facilities and operators due to worsening shortage of nursing care personnel
• Risk of sales concentration on a major customer (Panasonic Age-Free Co., Ltd.), which accounted for approximately 20.6% of net sales in FY2025 (ended February 2025)
• Intensifying price competition and the need for product differentiation amid the maturation of existing markets
• Uncertainty over the economic outlook stemming from U.S. trade policy, the situation in the Middle East, and persistently high resource prices