# Starts Publishing Corporation: business model and financials

> Latest period: FY ending Dec 2025, non-consolidated, J-GAAP
> Unit: JPY millions
> Sources: 有価証券報告書－第43期(2025/01/01－2025/12/31) (S100XSPB)
> Page: https://vizora.meequs.com/en/company/starts-publishing
> Retrieved: 2026-09-30T21:35:13.734Z

## Company

Starts Publishing, founded in 1983, is a company in Internet Services & Apps listed on TSE Standard. It has 240 employees (consolidated).

| Field | Value |
| --- | ---: |
| Legal name | Starts Publishing Corporation |
| Ticker | 7849 |
| Stock price | View on Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.co.jp/quote/7849.T) |
| Listing | TSE Standard |
| Head office | 東京都江戸川区中葛西五丁目33番14号 同所は登記上の本店所在地で実際の業務は「最寄りの連絡場所」で行っております。 |
| Representative (per filing) | 代表取締役社長 菊地 修一 |
| Founded | Mar 1983 |
| Share capital | ¥540.9M |
| Employees (consolidated) | 240 |
| Average salary (parent only) | ¥6.1M |
| Fiscal year end | December |
| Corporate number | 7011701004273 |
| EDINET | E00736 |
| Industries (Vizora) | Internet Services & Apps, Publishing & Bookstores, Advertising |

> Profile source: annual securities report (S100XSPB, filed 2026-03-23). As of filing

## Five-axis industry profile

Primary industry: Publishing & Bookstores (2025-12-31)

| Axis | Industry percentile | Peers |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Revenue growth | 91.2 | 17 |
| Profitability | 92.1 | 19 |
| Cash conversion | 28.1 | 16 |
| Efficiency | 28.9 | 19 |

Each axis is shown independently. Missing values are labeled unavailable; no combined score is calculated. Industry rank is not an investment recommendation.

## Key points (generated from figures)

- About 59% of Starts Publishing's sales come from publication, with Media Solution making up much of the rest.
- Out of every ¥100 of sales, about ¥21 is left as operating profit.
- Revenue changed -5.1% from the prior year, operating profit -24.9%.

## Company structure

- Segment revenue mix: publication 59.0%、Media Solution 41.0%
- Revenue → net income: ¥8143367000 → ¥1377253000
- Net income → operating cash flow: ¥1377253000 → ¥798750000（difference ¥-578503000）
- Main uses of operating cash flow: CapEx ¥69302000 / dividends ¥459197000 / buybacks ¥214000
- Change in cash: ¥-645765000
Segment shares use total reported segment revenue, which may include inter-segment sales. The cash bridge is operating cash flow minus net income and combines non-cash items and working-capital effects.

## Key figures at a glance

| Metric | Value | Note |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Revenue | ¥8.14B |  |
| Operating income | ¥1.76B | Margin 21.6% |
| Net income | ¥1.38B | Margin 16.9% |
| Free cash flow | ¥729.4M |  |
| Largest business | publication | of segment revenue 59.0% |
| Employees (consolidated) | 240 |  |
| EPS | ¥358.7 |  |
| Book value per share | ¥2805.78 |  |
| Equity ratio | 83.5% |  |
| Shares outstanding | 3,840,000 |  |
| Treasury shares | 400 |  |
| Shareholders | 916 |  |
| Average salary (parent only) | ¥6.1M | Filing company only |
| Cash ratio | 43.2% | Cash ÷ revenue 68.4% |
| Vs. industry median margin | +16.1 pp | Publishing & Bookstores |
| ROE | 14.4% | Derived from disclosed figures |
| ROA | 11.1% | Derived from disclosed figures |

## Notable figures

- FY2025, one segment accounts for 88% of positive segment profit
- FY2025, segment profit share differs by 29 points
- FY2025, cash is 43% of total assets

## What changed in 5 years

| Metric | FY ending Dec 2020 | FY ending Dec 2025 | Change |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Revenue | ¥4434682000 | ¥8143367000 | +83.6% |
| Operating income | ¥169322000 | ¥1756848000 | +937.6% |
| Operating margin | 3.8% | 21.6% | +17.8 pp |
| Employees | 217 people | 240 people | +10.6% |
| Cash and equivalents | ¥1198132000 | ¥5573685000 | +365.2% |

### Change in segment revenue mix

Span: FY ending Dec 2020 → FY ending Dec 2025. Stable segment keys are connected; unmatched shares are marked as new or reorganized. Shares use total segment revenue.

| Flow | Revenue share |
| --- | ---: |
| 書籍コンテンツ事業 → 書籍コンテンツ事業 | 25.1% |
| 東京マーケティングドメイン → 事業再編・廃止 | 24.9% |
| メディアソリューション事業 → メディアソリューション事業 | 24.9% |
| 投稿コンテンツドメイン → 事業再編・廃止 | 25.1% |
| 新設・再編 → 書籍コンテンツ事業 | 33.9% |
| 新設・再編 → メディアソリューション事業 | 16.1% |

Segment revenue source references: 6 (derived)

## Income statement（FY ending Dec 2025, non-consolidated, J-GAAP）

| Item | Amount (JPY mn) | % of revenue | Source |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Revenue | 8,143 | 100.0% | S100XSPB |
| Cost of revenue | 3,962 | 48.7% | 算出 |
| Gross profit | 4,181 | 51.3% | S100XSPB |
| SG&A | 2,424 | 29.8% | S100XSPB |
| Operating income | 1,757 | 21.6% | S100XSPB |
| Ordinary income | 1,877 | 23.0% | S100XSPB |
| Pretax income | 1,933 | 23.7% | S100XSPB |
| Income tax | 556 | 6.8% | S100XSPB |
| Net income | 1,377 | 16.9% | S100XSPB |

## Per ¥100 of revenue（FY ending Dec 2025）

| Part | JPY |
| --- | ---: |
| Cost of revenue | 49 |
| SG&A | 30 |
| Operating income | 21 |
| (Ref.) Net income | 17 |

### Margin funnel

Gross margin 51.3% → Operating margin 21.6% → Net margin 16.9%
Derived from reported figures (DERIVED).

## Revenue and profit pattern

Pattern: Revenue and profit down
Revenue growth: -5.1%; Core profit growth: -24.9%
Operating leverage (core profit growth ÷ revenue growth): 4.87×
Calculated from comparable annual consolidated filings.

## Year over year（FY ending Dec 2024 → FY ending Dec 2025、JPY mn）

| Metric | Prior | Current | Change | % change |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Revenue | 8,582 | 8,143 | -438 | -5.1% |
| Gross profit | 4,745 | 4,181 | -563 | -11.9% |
| Operating income | 2,338 | 1,757 | -581 | -24.9% |
| Operating cash flow | 1,686 | 799 | -887 | -52.6% |
| Free cash flow | 1,632 | 729 | -903 | -55.3% |

## History（JPY mn）

| Period | Revenue | Op. income | Op. margin | Net income | Op. CF | FCF | Source |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| FY ending Dec 2019 | 4,902 | 575 | 11.7% | 415 | 501 | 427 | S100L1LV |
| FY ending Dec 2020 | 4,435 | 169 | 3.8% | 173 | 62 | -36 | S100NQOP |
| FY ending Dec 2021 | 5,593 | 815 | 14.6% | 566 | 1,212 | 1,165 | S100QHKW |
| FY ending Dec 2022 | 7,023 | 1,587 | 22.6% | 1,168 | 1,246 | 1,151 | S100T54I |
| FY ending Dec 2023 | 8,342 | 2,273 | 27.3% | 1,778 | 1,699 | 1,629 | S100VH6F |
| FY ending Dec 2024 | 8,582 | 2,338 | 27.2% | 1,827 | 1,686 | 1,632 | S100XSPB |
| FY ending Dec 2025 | 8,143 | 1,757 | 21.6% | 1,377 | 799 | 729 | S100XSPB |

## People and productivity（FY ending Dec 2025, non-consolidated, J-GAAP）

| Metric | Value |
| --- | ---: |
| Revenue per employee (consolidated) | ¥33.9M |
| Operating income per employee (consolidated) | ¥7.3M |
| Net income per employee (consolidated) | ¥5.7M |

Employees, revenue and profit are consolidated. Average annual salary is a separate parent-company figure. Calculated from disclosed figures (DERIVED).

| History | FY ending Dec 2021 | FY ending Dec 2022 | FY ending Dec 2023 | FY ending Dec 2024 | FY ending Dec 2025 |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Employees (consolidated) | 214 | 225 | 236 | 235 | 240 |
| Average salary (parent company) | ¥5.2M | ¥5.4M | ¥6.1M | ¥6M | ¥6.1M |
| Average age (parent company) | 35.3 years | 35.2 years | 35.2 years | 35.0 years | 34.8 years |
| Average tenure (parent company) | 8.5 years | 8.7 years | 9.3 years | 9.4 years | 9.5 years |

Year over year: Employees (consolidated) +2.1% · Revenue (consolidated) -5.1%

## Segments（FY ending Dec 2025, non-consolidated, J-GAAP、JPY mn）

| Segment | Revenue | Share | Op. income | Op. margin |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| publication | 4,805 | 59.0% | 1,649 | 34.3% |
| Media Solution | 3,338 | 41.0% | 233 | 7.0% |

### segmentMix — Revenue and profit mix

Calculated from disclosed figures (DERIVED). Shares use total segment revenue and total positive segment profit respectively. Difference = profit share − revenue share (pt). Inter-segment sales may prevent reconciliation to company revenue.

| Segment | Revenue share | Profit share | Difference (pt) | Margin |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| publication | 59.0% | 87.6% | 28.6 | 34.3% |
| Media Solution | 41.0% | 12.4% | -28.6 | 7.0% |

Segment → industry: Media Solution → Internet Services & Apps / publication → Publishing & Bookstores / Media Solution → Advertising

## Revenue by geography

No geographic revenue breakdown was disclosed.

## Cash flow（FY ending Dec 2025, non-consolidated, J-GAAP）

| Item | Amount (JPY mn) | % of revenue | Source |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Operating cash flow | 799 | 9.8% | S100XSPB |
| Capital expenditure | 69 | 0.9% | S100XSPB |
| Free cash flow | 729 | 9.0% | 算出 |
| Investing cash flow | -985 | -12.1% | S100XSPB |
| Financing cash flow | -459 | -5.6% | S100XSPB |
| Dividends paid | 459 | 5.6% | S100XSPB |
| Share buyback | 0 | 0.0% | S100XSPB |
| Change in cash | -646 | -7.9% | S100XSPB |
| Cash and equivalents | 5,574 | 68.4% | S100XSPB |

## Balance sheet

Figures are as of each fiscal year end. Derived values are marked as such in the source column. Lease liabilities are excluded from interest-bearing debt.

| Metric | FY ending Dec 2021 | FY ending Dec 2022 | FY ending Dec 2023 | FY ending Dec 2024 | FY ending Dec 2025 | Source |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Cash and equivalents | 2,289 | 3,354 | 4,845 | 6,219 | 5,574 | S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Total assets | 6,755 | 8,554 | 10,588 | 11,981 | 12,902 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Net assets | 5,279 | 6,390 | 8,171 | 9,767 | 10,773 | S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Share capital | 541 | 541 | 541 | 541 | 541 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Property, plant and equipment | 34 | 54 | 52 | 43 | 40 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Intangible assets excluding goodwill | 173 | 148 | 154 | 148 | 153 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Investment securities | 96 | 102 | 203 | 180 | 883 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Current assets | 5,770 | 7,568 | 9,399 | 10,616 | 10,383 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Current liabilities | 1,316 | 2,039 | 2,278 | 2,022 | 1,872 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Total liabilities | 1,475 | 2,164 | 2,417 | 2,214 | 2,129 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Equity attributable to owners of parent | 4,882 | 5,973 | 7,636 | 9,116 | 10,033 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Retained earnings | 3,805 | 4,896 | 6,559 | 8,040 | 8,957 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |
| Treasury stock | -0 | -0 | -1 | -1 | -1 | S100QHKW, S100T54I, S100VH6F, S100XSPB |

### Assets and funding mix

| Assets | Share | Source |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Cash | 43% | S100XSPB |
| Property, plant and equipment | 0% | S100XSPB |
| Intangibles and goodwill | 1% | S100XSPB |
| Investment securities | 7% | S100XSPB |
| Other assets | 49% | S100XSPB |

| Funding source | Share | Source |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Other liabilities | 17% | S100XSPB |
| Equity | 83% | S100XSPB |
| Other liabilities | 0% | S100XSPB |

### Balance sheet history

| Metric | FY ending Dec 2021 | FY ending Dec 2022 | FY ending Dec 2023 | FY ending Dec 2024 | FY ending Dec 2025 |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Total assets | 6,755 | 8,554 | 10,588 | 11,981 | 12,902 |
| Equity | 5,279 | 6,390 | 8,171 | 9,767 | 10,773 |
| Interest-bearing debt | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cash | 2,289 | 3,354 | 4,845 | 6,219 | 5,574 |

## Asset intensity and goodwill

Ratios are derived from reported values. Goodwill is used only when separately reported, never inferred from combined intangible assets.

| Metric | Value | Sources |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Asset intensity (fixed assets ÷ revenue) | 0.5% | S100XSPB |
| Fixed assets ÷ total assets | 0.3% | S100XSPB |
| Goodwill ÷ parent equity | — | —, S100XSPB |

### Cash quality

Net cash = cash − interest-bearing debt. Net debt ratio = (interest-bearing debt − cash) ÷ positive operating cash flow. Omit when debt components are incomplete; other ratios are derived from reported figures.

| Metric | Value |
| --- | ---: |
| Cash ratio (cash ÷ total assets) | 43.2% |
| Cash ÷ revenue | 68.4% |
| Net cash (cash − interest-bearing debt) | — |
| Net debt ÷ operating cash flow | — |
| Cash conversion (operating CF ÷ operating income) | 45.5% |
| Cash vs. profit gap | -579 JPY mn (of net income -42.0%) |
| Shareholder returns / net income | 33.4% |
| Shareholder returns / FCF | 63.0% |
| Shareholder payments — dividends / net income | 33.3% |
| Shareholder payments — dividends / FCF | 63.0% |
| CapEx intensity (capex ÷ revenue) | 0.9% |
| Investing CF relative to operating CF | 123.3% |

## ROA and ROE

ROE is decomposed into net margin × asset turnover × financial leverage. Leverage can raise ROE, so the ratio alone does not assess a company's condition. Ending balances are used without a prior year; total equity approximates parent equity when unavailable.

| Period | Net margin | Asset turnover | ROA | Financial leverage | ROE | Sources |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 2021 | 10.1% | 0.83× | 8.4% | 1.38× | 11.6% | S100QHKW |
| 2022 | 16.6% | 0.92× | 15.3% | 1.41× | 21.5% | S100T54I |
| 2023 | 21.3% | 0.87× | 18.6% | 1.41× | 26.1% | S100VH6F |
| 2024 | 21.3% | 0.76× | 16.2% | 1.35× | 21.8% | S100XSPB |
| 2025 | 16.9% | 0.65× | 11.1% | 1.30× | 14.4% | S100XSPB |

## Ownership

| Counterparty | Relation | Ratio | As of |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| スターツコーポレーション株式会社 | Major shareholder | 48.6% | 2025-12-31 |
| スターツアメニティー株式会社 | Major shareholder | 21.0% | 2025-12-31 |
| 村石 久二 | Major shareholder | 2.7% | 2025-12-31 |
| ＭＳＩＰ ＣＬＩＥＮＴ ＳＥＣＵＲＩＴＩＥＳ （常任代理人 モルガン・スタンレーMUFG証券株式会社） | Major shareholder | 2.6% | 2025-12-31 |
| 富樫 隆行 | Major shareholder | 2.1% | 2025-12-31 |
| スターツ出版従業員持株会 | Major shareholder | 1.6% | 2025-12-31 |
| 日本マスタートラスト信託銀行株式会社（信託口） | Major shareholder | 1.5% | 2025-12-31 |
| 中台 恒次 | Major shareholder | 0.8% | 2025-12-31 |
| ヨシダ トモヒロ | Major shareholder | 0.8% | 2025-12-31 |
| 株式会社日本カストディ銀行（信託口） | Major shareholder | 0.7% | 2025-12-31 |
| ＵＳＢＫ ＮＡ ＪＰ Ｉ＆Ｗ ＴＳ （常任代理人 株式会社三菱UFJ銀行） | Major shareholder | 0.7% | 2025-12-31 |

## Sources

| Document | ID | Published | URL |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 有価証券報告書－第43期(2025/01/01－2025/12/31) | S100XSPB | 2026-03-23 | https://disclosure2.edinet-fsa.go.jp/WZEK0040.aspx?S100XSPB,, |
| 有価証券報告書－第42期(2024/01/01－2024/12/31) | S100VH6F | 2025-03-26 | https://disclosure2.edinet-fsa.go.jp/WZEK0040.aspx?S100VH6F,, |
| 有価証券報告書－第41期(2023/01/01－2023/12/31) | S100T54I | 2024-03-27 | https://disclosure2.edinet-fsa.go.jp/WZEK0040.aspx?S100T54I,, |
| 有価証券報告書－第40期(2022/01/01－2022/12/31) | S100QHKW | 2023-03-29 | https://disclosure2.edinet-fsa.go.jp/WZEK0040.aspx?S100QHKW,, |
| 有価証券報告書－第39期(令和3年1月1日－令和3年12月31日) | S100NQOP | 2022-03-25 | https://disclosure2.edinet-fsa.go.jp/WZEK0040.aspx?S100NQOP,, |
| 有価証券報告書－第38期(令和2年1月1日－令和2年12月31日) | S100L1LV | 2021-03-26 | https://disclosure2.edinet-fsa.go.jp/WZEK0040.aspx?S100L1LV,, |

## Definitions

- Amounts are in millions of JPY (rounded). The period is stated in each table heading
- Operating margin = operating income ÷ revenue. Net income is attributable to owners of the parent when disclosed
- Free cash flow (FCF) = operating cash flow − capital expenditure
- ¥100 model = breakdown per ¥100 of revenue (rounded so parts sum to 100)
- Segment revenues include inter-segment sales and may not sum to consolidated revenue
- Source IDs are EDINET document IDs (docID). "算出" (derived) means computed from other disclosed values
- All figures are extracted mechanically from filings. AI-written text never generates figures
- Source: company filings submitted to EDINET (Financial Services Agency of Japan). Figures were extracted, edited and processed, and charts and text were created, by Vizora — not by the FSA (used under the Public Data License v1.0).