Toei Animation, a leading force in the anime industry, has reported a robust performance for the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2024, attributing its success to the global popularity of anime. The company, on January 29, 2024, announced an upward revision of its full-year earnings forecast, signaling confidence in its continued strong performance. The revised forecast includes increases in collaborative sales to 83 billion yen, operating income to 20.5 billion yen, ordinary income to 21.5 billion yen, and net income to 15.5 billion yen. This adjustment reflects the sustained impact of previously released movies and robust sales of distribution and merchandising rights within Japan.
Despite the positive adjustments, Toei’s projected consolidated sales and profits are expected to fall short of the previous year’s figures. However, the company’s sales progress has already surpassed 80%, and operating income has exceeded 86% by the third quarter, indicating a potential for further positive revisions based on the performance in the final quarter. The theatrical release of “The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of Gegege” has notably exceeded expectations, contributing to the optimistic outlook.
In addition to financial updates, Toei Animation announced a stock split effective March 31, 2024, aimed at enhancing stock liquidity by making shares more accessible to investors. This move comes in the wake of a continuous rise in Toei’s stock price since 2015, recently surpassing 2,000 yen per share.
Furthermore, Toei Animation has unveiled its latest project, “Expelled from Paradise: Resonance of the Heart,” a sequel to the 2014 hit “Expelled from Paradise.” The announcement, made during the Virtual Anime Fes, includes the release of a teaser and key visual. The sequel reunites the original creative team and promises to leverage advances in CG technology and VR spaces to deliver a fresh narrative experience that extends beyond the original story. “Expelled from Paradise: Resonance of the Heart” aims to captivate audiences with a new chapter that explores the aftermath of a collapsed terrestrial civilization, building on the success of its predecessor and Toei Animation’s strategic vision for growth in the evolving global anime market.
