BRIDGE REPORT
(4319)

スタンダード

TAC Co., Ltd. (4319)
Hiroaki Saito, President
Hiroaki Saito, President
Corporate Profile
Company
TAC Co., Ltd.
Code No.
4319
Exchange
1st Section Tokyo Stock Exchange
Industry
Services
President
Hiroaki Saito
HQ
Misaki-cho 3-2-18, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Year-end
March
URL
Stock Information
Share Price Shares Outstanding Market Cap. ROE (actual) Trading Unit
¥213 18,503,932 shares ¥3.941 billion 4.9% 100 shares
DPS (Est.) Dividend Yield (Est.) EPS (Est.) PER (Est.) BPS (actual) PBR (actual)
¥2.00 0.9% ¥20.27 10.5x ¥236.95 0.9x
* Stock price as of close on May 29, 2015. Number of shares outstanding as of most recent quarter end do not include treasury shares.
 
Consolidated Earnings Trends
Fiscal Year Net Sales Operating Income Ordinary Income Net
Income
EPS Dividends
March 2010 23,991 623 442 40 2.20 17.00
March 2011 24,575 465 283 -244 - 20.00
March 2012 22,578 -606 -530 -799 - 0.00
March 2013 20,999 136 377 977 53.63 0.00
March 2014 20,526 1,034 1,299 816 44.68 1.00
March 2015 19,537 140 404 208 11.24 1.00
March 2016 Est. 19,961 630 594 375 20.27 2.00
* Estimates are those of the Company.
 
We present this Bridge Report reviewing the fiscal year March 2015 earnings results and other information about TAC.
 
Key Points
 
 
 
Company Overview
 
TAC Co., Ltd. is known as the "TAC, The Certification School" where university students and working adults come to study to increase their chances of passing tests for various certifications and qualifications. The Company operates schools throughout Japan that educate students and adults in academic fields necessary to pass examinations to become Certified Public Accountants, Licensed Tax Accountants, Real Estate Appraisers, Certified Social Insurance Labor Consultants, Attorneys, Judicial Scriveners and other professionals. In addition, TAC also provides various training programs for corporate clients and conducts publishing business as well.
 
 
<Corporate History>
TAC was established in December 1980 as a school providing instruction to people seeking to obtain certifications and qualifications through examinations, including courses for Certified Public Accountant Examination (CPA Exam), Official Business Skill Examination in Bookkeeping, and Licensed Tax Accountant Examination. In October 2001, TAC listed its shares on the Over The Counter Market, and later moved its shares to the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in January 2003 and then to the First Section in March 2004. In September 2009, TAC acquired KSS Co., Ltd. (Formerly known as Waseda Management Publishing), which conducts certification and qualification acquisition support services including the provision of preparatory courses for the Bar Exam, Judicial Scrivener Exam, Patent Attorney Exam, Exam for Level-1 Civil Service, and Exam for Special Personnel of the MOFA. Through the addition of this company, TAC has been able to fortify its strengths in the accounting realm by adding certification preparatory courses in the legal realm, and to round out its service lineup with courses for Public Officer exams. In December 2013, the Company formed a collaborative agreement that included sharing of capital with ZKAI Co., Ltd. for work in the development of a correspondence course education service for elementary, junior and senior high school students. Furthermore, other M&A activities were conducted in June 2014 to gain entry into the medical claims processing realm.
 
<Strengths>
(1) Detailed Response to Changes, Revisions in Examination System, Laws
Since the founding of the Company, TAC instructors have made revisions to the text materials used in its courses every year, and this ability to respond to changes and revisions in the examination and legal systems is a distinguishing feature and strength of TAC. For a company like TAC with sales approaching ¥20.0 billion, absorbing the costs of updating text materials on an annual basis is possible. However, new entrants and smaller players in the market have a much more difficult time absorbing the costs of updating teaching materials. Other strengths of TAC include its knowhow and efficiency accumulated over the history of its operations in providing the most updated information to students in its courses.
 
(2) Full-Scale Lineup and Aggressive Course Development
TAC has risen to become the top player in the industry through its aggressive efforts to develop courses in new realms, including those targeting university students, and it has become the first company within its industry to list its shares. Along with the acquisition of W Seminar's certification and qualification acquisition support business in 2009, TAC has been able to fortify its weakness in the realms of courses for the Bar Exam and Public Officer Exams. Consequently, the Company now boasts of a strong business model comprised of the three main pillars of Accounting (Certified Public Accountant, Licensed Tax Accountant and Bookkeeping), Legal, and Public Officer related certification and qualification acquisition support courses.
 
(3) Providing Innovative Services with a Focus Upon Students
Innovative services are yet another strength of TAC. TAC was the first school in the certification and qualification acquisition support services market to introduce educational media and provide students with ability to choose which instructor they would like to study under. This corporate focus upon satisfying the needs of students is reflected in the quality of the text materials offered and has contributed to the establishment of a strong brand reputation as "TAC, The Certification School."
 
 
 
ROE deteriorated significantly compared to the past two fiscal years due in part to declines in margin and asset turnover. Now the most important issue is whether "a full-fledged earning recovery can be realized going forward." The average ROE of 10.5% since 2002 is relatively high.
 
 
Fiscal Year March 2015 Earnings Overview
 
Regarding Sales
Students applying for courses are required to pay the total amount of tuitions upon application for admission (TAC calls these fees as tuition advance pre-adjustment sales or sales on an accrual basis), which are then booked on the balance sheet as a liability under the title "tuition advance." These prepayments received are then written down and booked as sales in each month that educational services are provided to the student (TAC calls these tuition advance post-adjustment sales or sales on an accrual basis). While sales booked on the income statement are "sales on an accrual basis", the actual indicator of the sales conditions of the Company in the term are considered to be the "sales on a cash basis" (The fact that cash and equivalents are influenced strongly by the sales on a cash basis is a characteristic that is shared with companies that take orders) and they are deemed to be a leading indicator for sales on an accrual basis. Therefore, TAC management identifies this "sales on a cash basis" as a key management indicator.
 
Regarding Seasonal Characteristics
The actual examinations for which the majority of certification courses are offered take place in the second (July to September) and third quarters (October - December), and the core courses, especially those for CPA Exam and Licensed Tax Accountant Exam, fall into the time frame for examinations in the following year. In the fourth (January to March) and first quarters (April to June), on the other hand, all the courses are offered.
Despite an increase in sales on a cash basis and sales on an accrual basis during the second and third quarters, tuition advance received are written down and booked depending upon enrollment period and gross margin is profoundly influenced because of the booking a fixed level of expenses every month. In the fourth and first quarters, these prepayments received are then written down and booked as sales in each month, causing gross margin to increase.
 
 
Sales and Profits Fall Shy of Both Previous Term and Plans
Both sales on a cash basis and sales on an accrual basis declined by 7.8% and 4.8% year-on-year to ¥18.846 and ¥19.537 billion respectively. Despite a 2.7% year-on-year decline in cost of sales through reductions in instructor fees and lower rent caused by acquisition of the headquarter building, sales, general and administrative expenses rose by 2.6% year-on-year to ¥7.251 billion due in part to increases in provision of reserve for repairs, taxes, commissions paid, and amortization of goodwill contributed to a 86.4% year-on-year decline in operating income to ¥140 million. While a ¥345 million investment profit was recorded as non-operating income on the redemption and sales of bonds held due to the weakening of the yen, ordinary and net incomes declined by 68.9% and 74.5% year-on-year to ¥404 and ¥208 million respectively due in part to increases in interest payment, a ¥51 million commission paid as part of non-operating expenses and impairment loss. TAC revised its earnings estimates downwards before its actual announcement.
 
 
<Personnel Education>
Sales on a cash basis fell by 12.6% year-on-year to ¥11.846 billion. In the wake of the consumption tax hike, applications for general courses fell dramatically from the first to second quarters. The fourth quarter also saw a large decline compared with the previous year when the rush to beat the hike in the consumption tax occurred. Despite reductions in rent, outsourcing for text material creation, instructor fees and other operating expenses, the decline in sales contributed an operating loss of ¥1.044 billion. Sales on an accrual basis fell by 8.5% year-on-year to ¥12.501 billion and a ¥390 million of operating loss was incurred, compared with operating income of ¥536 million in the previous term.
 
<Corporate Training>
Sales on a cash basis declined by 1.8% year-on-year to ¥4.180 billion. The corporate training business segment, over 60% of which is comprised of corporate training, implemented efforts to fortify operations to recover from the cancellation of unprofitable regional projects. And despite increases in sales of finance and accounting, management and taxation, legal, Public Officer and labor, and international realm courses of 1.7%, 1.6%, 3.6%, 23.9% and 4.4% year-on-year respectively, overall sales declined by 0.9% year-on-year.

University seminar sales rose by 10.2% year-on-year due in part to strength in Public Officer, Real Estate Transaction Manager, and Certified Public Accountant realm courses. With regards to the tax filing software "Mahojin" business, strong demand for software updates in response to the consumption tax hike contributed a 14.7% increase year-on-year. Sales of contents provided to regional vocational schools declined by 14.3% in the wake of the rush to beat the consumption tax hike in the previous term. Sales of collaborating school business declined by 9.2% year-on-year due to lackluster performance of the main courses for Public Officer, Bookkeeper, Licensed Tax Accountant and other professional realms.

At the same time, aggressive anticipatory spending for marketing contributed to the front loading of costs and a 14.1% year-on-year decline in operating income to ¥1.058 billion on a cash basis. On an accrual sales basis, sales and operating income declined by 0.5% and 9.8% year-on-year to ¥4.217 billion and ¥1.094 billion respectively.
 
<Publishing>
Sales grew by 3.7% year-on-year to ¥2.321 billion (This segment does not adjust tuition advance and therefore there is no need to differentiate between sales on a cash basis and sales on an accrual-basis). Inventories remain under strict control as the number of publications being strictly controlled and the number of publications issued by TAC Publishing increasing by a small margin from 452 to 457 and W Publishing declining from 160 to 157. A full color version of text books for Real Estate Transaction Manager, Financial Planner (FP) and "Minna ga Hoshikatta! Bookkeeping Textbook" series for bookkeeping trended favorably. At the same time, ongoing efforts to strengthen marketing for publications, improvements in proposal based marketing by publishing marketing staff to bookstores, and holding of certification and qualification book fairs at major bookstores have increased the recognition of TAC Publishing in the market. Also, activation of the Company's own direct sales through the "Cyber Book Store" website and strengthened marketing through Amazon were implemented. Operating income doubled on the back of reduced inventories at the end of the previous fiscal year and subsequent improved cost of sales.
 
<Manpower Business>
Sales rose by 26.4% year-on-year to ¥544 million, and operating income declined by 93.4% year-on-year to ¥6 million. Personnel dispatch service sales declined by 31.2% year-on-year due to a shift to hiring of full time employees arising from improvements in the overall economy. At the same time, business recovery in clients' businesses led to a shortage of labor in the accounting industry. Therefore, audit corporations, tax accounting corporations and major accounting firms set up booths at career fairs for Certified Accountants and Licensed Tax Accountants, which in turn drove sales of job advertising higher by 8.4% year-on-year. Sales of headhunting services declined by 10.9% year-on-year. These developments led sales and operating income of TAC Professional Bank Co., Ltd. to decline by 10.8% and 25.6% year-on-year to ¥383 and ¥73 million respectively.

The combined sales of the medical related personnel dispatch services company Kubo Iryo Co., Ltd. and Iryojimu Staff Kansai Co., Ltd., which were acquired in June 2014, amounted to ¥168 million. Increased labor cost due to instability in staff dispatching, the write down of doubtful accounts of major customers, and the booking of ¥24 million in amortization of goodwill caused delays in the contribution of these newly acquired companies to the consolidated accounts. At the same time, TAC Iryojimu Staff Co., Ltd. was established in December 2014 to leverage knowhow of both companies in the Kanto region. In the Kansai region, TAC focuses on comprehensive operational consignment contracts with hospitals and clinics. In the Kanto region, operations have been launched after obtaining licenses and registered staff are now being recruited and the target customers of medical and dental clinics have already started making inquiries this services.
 
 
<Market Overview>
The number of people applying for examinations for various certifications and qualifications during 2014 declined by 8.3% year-on-year to 2.510 million, marking the fourth consecutive year of declines after peaking at 3.086 million in 2010. A review of the main certification markets is provided below.

<Accounting Related>
The number of examination applicants in business skills and bookkeeping at all levels declined by 9.1% year-on-year. Despite the continuing decline in the number of examination applicants for public accountants and the most recent decline of 17.8% year-on-year, an increase in the number of applicants is anticipated in the light of the shortage of staff at auditing companies and in the accounting industry as a whole. The number of applicants for Licensed Tax Accountant examinations has been in a prolonged downturn, and the number of examination applicants declined by 9.9% year-on-year.

<Law Related>
While the number of examination applicants for law related certification courses has been decreasing and the number of applicants in 2014 fell by nearly half or by 46.5% compared with 2005, the number of examination applicants for the preliminary bar exam increased by 12.1% year-on-year, marking the third consecutive year of increases since this examination was launched in 2011.

<Public Officer Related>
Despite increases in the number of applicants to become public officers since 2009 in the aftermath of the "Lehman Shock", applicant numbers declined during 2014 due to increases in alternative employment opportunities arising from Prime Minister Abe's economic stimulus measures. The number of applicants for main career track and regular service government employees in 2014 declined by 2.7%, whereas number of applicants for upper level local government employee declined by 4.6% year-on-year, which indicates that the decrease in number of applicants due to economic recovery is more widespread on the local government level. Applicant numbers for teacher employment examinations are trending steadily at about 150,000.
(The trends of TAC's services are listed below)
 
Finance and Accounting
Sales on an accrual basis declined by 9.7% year-on-year to ¥3.072 billon. An increase in the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) has contributed to the adoption of an aggressive hiring strategy by major audit corporations from the year before last and the industry continues to be plagued by labor shortages. The passage rates for the examination rose from 8.9% in the previous year to 10.1%, and the environment for applicants of CPA Exam has improved. Against this backdrop, the decreasing number of applicants for the CPA Exam has resulted in flagging popularity for upper level courses that are offered to people preparing to take the Exam for the second time or more. However, demand for introductory level courses for new students rose from the previous year. Consequently, sales on a cash basis of CPA Exam courses declined by 6.7% year-on-year. The bookkeeping level 1 course has seen a large decline due in part to its high pricing, and weakening demand for level 3 and 2 courses due to the drop in the number of examination applicants contributed a decline in sales on a cash basis of 6.9% year-on-year.
 
Management and Taxation
Sales on an accrual basis declined by 8.7% year-on-year to ¥4.151 billon. The number of applicants for the Licensed Tax Accountant Examination fell significantly by 9.9% year-on-year to 49,876. Against this backdrop, the revision of course hours and development of new courses incorporating students' needs failed to bring about a recovery in sales during the year, and sales on a cash basis declined by 13.4% year-on-year. TAC's strategy of bringing about a recovery in sales includes the addition of higher value added curriculum with higher prices to their existing course lineup. Students taking the courses for Small and Medium Enterprise Management Consultant Examination (SMEMC Exam) declined due to a decrease in applicants taking the Exam for the second time or more as a rebound from past fiscal years, when a large number of applicants passed the Exam. Furthermore, introductory courses declined in number as well. These decreases contributed to a decline in sales on a cash basis of 9.4% year-on-year.
 
Finance and Real Estate
Sales on a cash basis rose by 6.0% year-on-year to ¥2.778 billion. On the back of the highly active real estate market, the economic recovery and loose monetary policy, the real estate segment trended favorably. Consequently, courses to take Real Estate Appraiser Examination, which had stagnated for a prolonged period of time, was able to record a 2.6% year-on-year rise in sales on a cash basis. Furthermore, the number of applicants taking the Real Estate Transaction Manager Examination rose by 1.6% year-on-year, which caused sales on a cash basis of courses preparing the Exam to rise 9.8% year-on-year. Against the backdrop of the ongoing decline in the number of examination applicants, the number of participants taking courses for Licensed Condominium Manager Examination along with courses for Property Management Supervisor Examination declined and sales on a cash basis fell by 11.1% year-on-year. However, sales on a cash basis for courses to prepare for Registered Architect Examination grew by 62.6% year-on-year due to the increased recognition of the courses, now that the courses have been offered for three years, and that courses in technical drafting have been earning popularity.

The finance realm courses saw mixed results. Sales on a cash basis of the Financial Planner courses declined by 1.7% year-on-year on the back of weak trends in courses for individuals despite the continued favorable demand for updated publications. Courses to prepare for Certified Financial Analyst Examination (CFA Exam) to become Securities Analysts saw an increase of 5.8% year-on-year in sales on a cash basis. Business school courses, on the other hand, saw 7.3% year-on-year decline in sales on a cash basis, due to weakening demand for corporate training as well as declined popularity for courses to prepare for Associate Turnaround Professional Examination (ATP Exam). Weak demand for human resources skills courses for corporate training led to a decline in sales on a cash basis of 18.8% year-on-year.
 
Law
Sales on an accrual basis declined by 10.4% year-on-year to ¥1.815 billion. The number of applicants for the preliminary test for the bar examination remained relatively high at 12,543 (Compared with 12,622 in the previous year), reflecting the continued popularity of the legal profession. The "4A basic course" is very popular amongst a wide range of applicants including first timers and people with experience in sitting for the bar exam, and optional courses of the 4A basic course also remained popular even in the wake of the consumption tax hike. Consequently sales on a cash basis remained in line with the previous year. Both upper and independent courses of the judicial scrivener courses remained in strong demand, but demand for entry level and discussion courses were weak and contributed to a 11.9% year-on-year decline in sales on a cash basis. Patent Attorney courses suffered a decline in students due to the raising of the difficulty of and lowering of the passage rates of the examination and casued sales on a cash basis to decline by 16.3% year-on-year. Growth in students of the administrative scrivener courses between the age range of 20s to 30s stagnated, and sales on a cash basis fell by 14.9% year-on-year. Demand for legal related and customs clearing officer courses remained weak and sales on a cash basis declined by a small margin.
 
Public Officer and Labor
Sales on an accrual basis declined by 3.7% year-on-year to ¥5.155 billion. While the number of applicants for the certified social insurance labor consultant examination declined by 10.1% to 57,199, the halt rise in the difficulty of the examination up until the previous term contributed to a large increase in the number of applicants who passed the examination of 55.9% year-on-year to 4,156. Consequently this contributed to a decline in sales on a cash basis of 10.5% year-on-year due to a decline in repeat students of courses for certified social insurance labor consultants.

The improvement in employment conditions of private sector companies and the conducting of hiring by both the private and public sectors at the same time led to newly graduating students to apply for both private and public sector jobs, which in turn contributed to a decline in the number of people applying to take Public Officer courses. Sales on a cash basis of courses for National Public Employees in Main Career Track and Special Personnel of the MOFA declined by 5.2% year-on-year, and National Public Employees in the Regular Service and Senior officials of Local Government course fell by 12.9% year-on-year. The growth in sales of courses to prepare for teacher employment examination also stagnated.
 
Information Technology and International
Sales on an accrual basis declined by 8.9% year-on-year to ¥1.330 billion. Information processing courses targeting individuals stagnated and sales on a cash basis fell by 7.8% year-on-year. However sales on a cash basis of the CompTIA courses trended favorably and rose by 2.2% year-on-year. The environment for United States CPA Exam courses became difficult. And despite the diversification of courses to include United States certified management accountant, United States tax accountants, TOEIC, and BATIC courses, sales on a cash basis fell by 14.1% year-on-year.
 
Medical and Welfare
Sales on an accrual basis were ¥158 million. TAC acquired two companies: Iryojimu Staff Kansai Co., Ltd., which conducts medical office staff dispatching services, and Kubo Iryo Co., Ltd., which provides medical expense statements check services, in fiscal year March 2015. The knowhow of both companies will be leveraged in medical administrative work courses provided at facilities in the Osaka and Kansai regions. Furthermore, medical administrative work courses will begin being provided in the Tokyo and surrounding metropolitan region, and hiring of registered staff has begun after the start of the new year along with the establishment of TAC Iryo Jimu Staff Co., Ltd. In addition, TAC has begun collaborations with Tohan Consulting Ltd. to provide nursing care certification courses. During the previous term, nearly all of the sales of the medicine and welfare realms were derived from the two companies Iryojimu Staff Kansai Co., Ltd. and Kubo Iryo Co., Ltd. From the coming term onwards, sales of medical administrative worker dispatch are expected to be booked in the human resources business and medical administrative work courses are expected to be booked in the education business.
 
Others
Sales (Sales on a cash basis is equivalent to sales on an accrual basis) declined by 3.6% year-on-year to ¥1.075 billion. The human resources subsidiary TAC Professional Bank Co., Ltd. benefitted from strong demand created by labor shortages accompanying the economic recovery and subsequent strong demand to put up booths at career fairs during the summer and winter. However declines in workers dispatched and headhunting services provided to job applications in finance and accounting divisions of accounting firms arising from declines in registered staff contributed to a 11.6% year-on-year decline in human resources business sales. Tax filing software "Mahojin" sales were bolstered by sales of updates responding to the consumption tax hike. Aside from this, applications for course attendance at various facilities remained weak and other sales declined by 12.5% year-on-year.
 
 
Amongst courses for individuals and corporate clients, courses for Public Officer exams ranked at the top of both lists just as they did in the previous term. Sales of National Public Employees in the Regular Service and Senior officials of Local Government course rose by 5.8%, and Main Career Track Public Officer and Special Personnel of the MOFA courses remained in line with the previous year's levels despite the rush to beat the hike in the consumption tax in the previous term. While sales of introductory courses increased due to a shortage of accountants, Public Certified Accountant courses sales fell by 6.1% year-on-year. In addition, Official Business Bookkeeping Skill test and Licensed Tax Accountant course sales fell by 9.0% and 9.2% year-on-year respectively. Despite the relatively firm demand for the "4A Basic course", Legal courses saw a severe decline in the number of students with sales of the Judicial Scrivener, Patent Attorney, and Administrative Scrivener courses falling by 11.1%, 18.1% and 10.0% year-on-year respectively.

At the same time, strong hiring in the finance industry, brisk activities in the real estate market and recovery in the overall economy contributed to increases in Real Estate Transaction Manager, Securities Analyst, and Business School related courses of 1.1%, 29.4% and 23.3% year-on-year respectively. In addition, CompTIA course sales rose by 17.2% year-on-year, and BATIC course sales rose by 6.0% year-on-year on the back of changes in the testing system based upon the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS).

In the realm of students from corporate clients, training consigned from regional government bodies and seminars held by collaborating schools declined by 6.7% and 14.6% year-on-year respectively, while correspondence courses rose by 11.9% year-on-year and attendants from corporate clients attending courses grew overall.
 
 
Increases in cash and equivalents contributed to a ¥161 million rise in current assets from the end of the previous term. Increases in tangible fixed assets arising from the acquisition of the headquarter building and amortization of goodwill resulting from M&A activities contributed to a ¥2.512 billion rise in fixed assets. Consequent to these changes, total assets rose by ¥2.673 billion from the end of the previous term to ¥21.304 billion. Debt assumed for the purchase of the headquarter building contributed to a ¥3.418 billion rise in interest bearing liabilities to ¥7.819 billion, and a ¥2.454 billion rise in total liabilities to ¥16.917 billion. Net assets rose by ¥220 million to ¥4.387 billion on the back of increases in retained earnings. As a result of these developments, equity ratio declined by 1.7% points from the end of the previous term to 20.6%.
 
 
Declines in profits contributed to the net outflow of operating cash flow compared with the net inflow recorded in the previous term. A reduction in the decline in short term debt, and increase in long term debt caused the margin of net inflow of financing cash flow to expand. Consequent to these changes, cash position increased slightly.
 
(6) Topics
Courses Launched Over the Large Scale Open Online Course Providing Site
TAC has begun providing official business skill courses over the large online course providing site "gacco", which is officially recognized by the Japan Massive Open Online Courses (JMOOC). (Courses launched on April 23, 2015)

"Gacco" provides free online courses available to everyone and was established in February 2014. They currently offer 34 different courses and boast of over 100,000 students, with an aggregated number of students of 220,000. Over half of their students are working-age Japanese, who are keenly interested in practical and certification courses. TAC expects to open various courses including the Constitution for Bookkeeper and Administrative Scriveners, Civil Law for Real Estate Transaction Manager. In addition, the Company plans on introducing corporate research for corporate clients.

In addition, the breadth of people seeking to acquire certification will be expanded through cooperation with the online educational services website "Online School.jp."
 
 
Fiscal Year March 2016 Earnings Estimates
 
 
Marginal Increase in Sales, Large Growth in Profits
TAC estimates call for 8.0% growth in sales on a cash basis to ¥20.361 billion. Expansion of sales is necessary to maintain a network of facilities due to the nature of TAC's business, and efforts will be made to expand courses for finance, real estate and instructors, to develop new courses, and strengthen alliances as means of expanding sales. Operating income is expected to rise by 348.8% year-on-year to ¥630 million. The temporary disappearance of expenses due to the acquisition of the headquarter building is expected to contribute to a decline in sales, general and administrative expenses and to allow profits to rise by a large margin. Dividend is expected to be raised by ¥1 to ¥2.00 per share, for an estimated dividend payout ratio of 9.9%.
 
(2) Main Measures
① Sales Characteristics, Creation of New Sources of Sales
As described below, efforts to cultivate examination applicants through cooperation with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), start of courses for medical administrative tasks, promotion of medical realm human resources business and language business targeting corporations that are deploying their businesses in overseas markets are being conducted.
 
<High School Official Bookkeeping Business Skill Support Program Launched>
TAC has cooperated with the JCCI to launch a "high school official business bookkeeping skill support program" from April 2015.

1. Objective of the Program Promotion
In consideration of the problem of population declines of 18-year-old Japanese, universities are taking a renewed look at the value and effectiveness of teaching students business bookkeeping skills in acquiring national certifications and finding jobs. At some universities, students who have acquired national certifications for business bookkeeping skills receive preferential treatment including recommendations and special AO admissions, and complete tuition and fee waiver. In addition, some universities also provide special admissions to students who have acquired national certifications for business bookkeeping skills.

Moreover, revisions of question categories calling for the transfer of consolidated accounting and tax effect accounting from the first level to the second level of questions is derived from needs of the frontline and are expected to have a profound influence over the business bookkeeping skills courses. Consequently, national certifications for business bookkeeping skills are expected to be regarded even more highly in the near future for its societal contribution. At the same time, there is a need to rectify the educational structure for national certifications for business bookkeeping skills due to a shortage of instructors of business bookkeeping skills.

Against this backdrop, TAC is collaborating with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry to provide fundamental educational courses and contents on business bookkeeping skills to high schools on a complimentary basis as a means of supporting business bookkeeping skill development. Consequently, TAC seeks to support high school students seeking to acquire and leverage business bookkeeping skills, promote wider diffusion of the official business bookkeeping skill tests, and encourage more people to take the examination.

2. Program Overview
With the objective of increasing the diffusion of the official business bookkeeping skill test, TAC will ① provide programs (Courses over the web, DVD, and courses which combine both channels) free of charge, ② sell textbooks and questionnaire sheets (TAC Publishing) at a discount, and ③ offer customizable optional programs to nationwide high schools as part of its strategy of supporting students. Furthermore, the Company will also dispatch instructors for fees.

<Promote Medical Manpower Business>
M&A activities and establishment of subsidiaries will be undertaken to facilitate a foundation for the medical human resources business as a new source of revenues and to be launched on a full scale basis from the coming term. TAC will employ people who successfully complete their medical administrative tasks courses to work at TAC Iryo Jimu Staff Co., Ltd., Iryojimu Staff Kansai Co., Ltd. and Kubo Iryo Co., Ltd. to be dispatched to hospitals and clinics to work as medical administrative staff and to provide medical expense statements check services.
 
② Investments for Growth (Develop New Businesses)
TAC will aggressively pursue M&A projects that have to yield synergies with its various businesses.
 
③ Ongoing Efforts to Reduce Costs
TAC will endeavor to restrain outsourcing fees and labor costs by increasing operating efficiency and standardization. Revisions in instructor fees will also be conducted on an ongoing basis. Rent expenses will also be reduced through optimization of school sizes.
 
 
Conclusions
 
Earnings were revised downwards by a large margin in the term just ended, and the market has yet to respond to TAC's estimates for a recovery in profits during the coming term. And despite the various measures conducted every year, the market appears to be awaiting proof that the specific sales and profit targets can really be achieved. In this regard, the Certified Public Accountant and Public Officer correspondence courses launched in February 2015 as part of the business collaboration with the Z-KAI Group will be closely watched by the market. The business potential of this collaborative effort appears to be larger now than at the time of its announcement in December 2013, and this correspondence course is just the first step in the collaboration between these two companies. Consequently investors should keep a close watch on these developments.
 
 
Disclaimer
This report is intended solely for information purposes, and is not intended as a solicitation to invest in the shares of this company. The information and opinions contained within this report are based on data made publicly available by the Company, and comes from sources that we judge to be reliable. However we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the data. This report is not a guarantee of the accuracy, completeness or validity of said information and or opinions, nor do we bear any responsibility for the same. All rights pertaining to this report belong to Investment Bridge Co., Ltd., which may change the contents thereof at any time without prior notice. All investment decisions are the responsibility of the individual and should be made only after proper consideration.
Copyright(C) 2015 Investment Bridge Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
 
 
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