Ichigo Inc.

Strong operating momentum; record profitability expected - Business profit +25% YTD, EPS +24%, cash EPS +19% - Stock earnings +9%; flow earnings +31% - Management expects record earnings for FY (forecasting net income and EPS growth, with “upside” possible via capital actions like buybacks)

Key strategic thesis: “value-add” (no development risk) benefits from Japan’s construction inflation - Ichigo’s model focuses on acquiring existing assets and improving them rather than developing (unless no development risk is taken—e.g., build-to-suit with a buyer signing up at the start) - They argue Japan is shifting away from uneconomic redevelopment because construction costs rose faster than general inflation, improving economics for their capex-light repositioning approach - Construction inflation is described as 2–3x generalized inflation (management believes this structurally favors Ichigo vs traditional developers)

Capital returns: buybacks doubled + treasury share cancellation; dividend growth - Announced doubling buyback to JPY 10bn - Cancel ~7% of shares outstanding (not reissued), intended to support structural EPS growth - Management says it grew the dividend and expects continued dividend growth going forward - “Good news” surprise: they emphasize the shares trade around ~11x accounting earnings, while cash earnings are ~30% higher, implying a sub-10x cash earnings multiple rationale for buying back