Fuji Media Holdings said Thursday that it expects to incur a consolidated operating loss of ?12 billion ($79.5 million) for fiscal 2025, which would be its first full-year operating loss since becoming a holding company in 2008.
The parent of Fuji Television Network previously projected ?2.5 billion in profit for the year through March 2026. The downward revision reflects slower-than-expected recovery in advertising revenue, which slumped due to the group＊s poor handling of a sex scandal involving former popular TV personality Masahiro Nakai. In the previous year, Fuji Media earned an operating profit of ?18.2 billion.
The revenue forecast was also lowered to ?546.6 billion from ?561 billion.
For April-June this year, Fuji Media logged a consolidated operating loss of ?12.7 billion, against a profit of ?6.5 billion a year earlier, as revenue slid 10.4% to ?116.1 billion.
It secured a net profit on the back of its robust real estate business and share sales, although it slumped 85.1% from a year earlier.
Fuji TV posted an operating loss of ?21.7 billion, against a profit of ?1.2 billion a year earlier, on revenue of ?25 billion, down 54.1%. It incurred a net loss of ?18.9 billion, against the previous year＊s profit of ?800 million.
The number of commercial advertisers between April and July stood at 259, down by about 60% from a year before. But some major companies including Toyota Motor Corp. started coming back as sponsors in light of the group＊s reform efforts under a new management launched at a shareholders meeting in June.
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