Tokyo, May 12, 2026, 19:10 JST
Fuji Media Holdings said on Tuesday it booked an 8.77 billion yen operating loss for the year ended March 2026, reversing from an 18.29 billion yen profit a year earlier, as fallout from a sexual misconduct scandal cut into its core television advertising business. Net sales edged up 0.2% to 551.87 billion yen, while net income returned to 6.50 billion yen after a 20.13 billion yen loss.
The full-year loss turns a reputation crisis into a hard earnings hit. Jiji reported it was Fuji Media’s first annual operating loss since 2008, when it moved into a certified broadcast holding-company structure, a regulated setup used by Japanese broadcasting groups.
The company is asking investors to look past the trough. It forecast fiscal 2027 revenue of 625.7 billion yen, operating profit of 40.1 billion yen and net income of 26.1 billion yen, and said it plans to lift its annual dividend by 75 yen to 200 yen a share.
Fuji Television President Kenji Shimizu told reporters the loss was tied to “special factors” at the TV unit, saying first-half losses were too large to be covered by a second-half recovery. “Broadcast revenue is steadily recovering,” Daily Sports quoted him as saying. Daily
The damage was concentrated in media. Fuji Television’s broadcast and media revenue fell 27.4% to 117.08 billion yen, including a 36.5% drop in network time sales, regular advertising tied to national programming, and a 27.8% drop in spot sales, or short-term ad slots sold outside those regular sponsorship blocks. Streaming ad revenue through services such as TVer also fell 38.0%.
Shimizu also used the day to put reform back on the table. In a statement on Fuji Television’s new corporate philosophy, he said the company had “lost the trust” of stakeholders and that Fuji Television “must be reborn from the ground up.” Tnc
The scandal centered on former TV host Masahiro Nakai. Reuters reported last year that an independent panel commissioned by Fuji Media found an instance of “sexual violence” related to work duties and said the company had not adequately addressed care and redress for victims; the case drove an advertiser exodus and management resignations. Reuters
Other parts of the group cushioned the blow. Urban development and tourism revenue rose 37.2% to 193.50 billion yen, helped by property sales, condominium demand, Kobe Suma Sea World and hotel occupancy tied to inbound travel. Segment profit there rose 2.8% to 25.19 billion yen.
The competitive risk is plain. Fuji fights for ad money and streaming audiences with peers such as Nippon TV, TV Asahi and TBS, all part of the same Tokyo commercial broadcaster ecosystem that helped build TVer as an ad-supported catch-up platform. If sponsors move budgets away from Fuji for longer, the recovery can leak to rivals.
Investors got a mixed tape. IFIS Japan said Fuji’s 2.81 billion yen ordinary loss for fiscal 2026 missed the consensus forecast for a 1.55 billion yen profit, while the company’s 38.3 billion yen ordinary profit forecast for fiscal 2027 was 15.5% above consensus.
Fuji Media shares closed down 2.6% at 3,861 yen at 15:30 in Tokyo, around the time the results were posted after the market close. That left the regular session without much room to trade the new profit forecast and dividend plan.
But the rebound case is still fragile. The company said its outlook assumes recovery in TV advertising and content growth, while warning that energy costs, raw material prices, the yen, U.S. trade policy and China’s economy could weigh on Japan’s economy; it also said the forecast does not assume outside capital for its urban development and tourism business because the method and timing have not been decided.
