Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

Q3 FY2025 (Oct–Dec 2025) momentum + record highs (good/surprising) - Ajinomoto’s sales, business profit, and profit attributable to owners all reached new record highs for the first 3 quarters of FY2025 (ended Mar 31, 2026). - Q3 standalone (Oct–Dec): *all businesses* (Seasonings & Foods, Frozen Foods, Healthcare/others) reported sales and profit growth, enabling acceleration vs the prior year’s strong base. - Business profit +115% YoY in Q3 (Oct–Dec) (key operational surprise/positive signal vs earlier flat/H1 performance). - Cumulative through Q3: Sales JPY 1,164.1bn (~101% of FY2024; ~101% excluding FX); Business profit JPY 145.9bn (~105% YoY; ~105% ex-FX).

Full-year FY2025 outlook revised upward on profitability (forecast + drivers) - For FY2025, Ajinomoto revised upward: - Business profit - Profit attributable to owners - Why profitability up despite slightly lower sales: - Food business (Seasonings & Foods + Frozen Foods) expected to meet initial plan steadily. - Healthcare & Others revised upward, driven mainly by Functional Materials strength. - Additional positive item: gain from partial sale of fixed assets expected to exceed initial assumption (boosting owner profit).

Segment performance: strong wins, but some headwinds remain (good + negative) - Functional Materials (Bio & Fine Chemicals): 42% sales increase in Q3 (JPY +8.6bn) and profit jump (JPY +5.3bn, ~57%). Management attributes strength to high-end demand (AI-server/network-related ABF) and favorable product mix. - Key sustainability view: while quarterly seasonality exists, management sees continued strong high-end demand with no known negative factor currently. - Bio-Pharma Services & Ingredients / CDMO (Forge + AJIPHASE): - Q3 performance in line; profit impacted by upfront/temporary commercialization-related costs (consulting fee). - Model expects AJIPHASE shipment timing concentration in Q4, causing near-term variability but full-year trend still aligned. - Frozen Foods: Q3 improvement—Japan measures worked and business is entering profit recovery phase; however, underlying Q3 growth was not strong in US due to external disruption (see risks below). - Seasonings & Foods / Solutions & Ingredients headwind (negative): - Solutions & Ingredients plan lowered for the full year (investors asked if achievable). Management expects: - raw material cost cycle completing - market normalization and continued cost/efficiency measures - Mentioned continuing actions like new fermentation bacteria / efficiency improvements. - Americas margin contraction risk (negative): - Margin pressure in the Americas Seasonings/foods linked to Latin America / Brazil processing umami seasoning facility impacts plus market not yet improving (not just prior downtime continuing, but ongoing market conditions).