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Performance growth (for each fiscal year) Note: The displayed monetary amounts are all rounded down to the specified unit.
Consolidated net sales for fiscal 2023 increased 8,288 million yen (4.9%) from the previous year to 178,782 million yen. This result was mainly due to higher sales by Mister Donut, the core business of Food Group, whereas sales by Direct Selling Group and Other Businesses declined.
Consolidated operating profit declined 3,553 million yen (41.1%) from the previous year to 5,084 million yen, while the Food Group posted higher sales and gross profit. This decrease was due to a significant increase in cost of sales associated with installing RFID tags, which we proceeded with as planned, as well as increased expenses. Those expenses included computer system-related costs associated with compliance with the government's qualified invoice system, personnel expenses and freight costs.
Profit attributable to owners of the parent decreased 2,622 million yen (36.4%) from the previous year to 4,574 million yen. During fiscal 2023, our consolidated subsidiary Wakura Duskin Co., Ltd. posted an extraordinary loss due to damage caused by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. On the other hand, tax expenses fell this year, and the combination of these factors led to this result.
Net cash provided by operating activities in fiscal 2023 amounted to 11,093 million yen. On the other hand, net cash used in investing activities amounted to 16,604 million yen mainly due to purchase of securities and investment securities. As a result, free cash flow decreased by 5,510 million yen from the previous year.
The Company decided to pay an annual ordinary dividend of 80 yen per share for fiscal 2023, adopting a dividend-on-equity ratio of 2.5%. Since the Company will also pay a commemorative dividend of 20 yen per share to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the total dividend will be 100 yen per share, consisting of the ordinary dividend of 80 yen per share and the commemorative dividend of 20 yen per share.
Customer-level sales increased 20,681 million yen from the previous year to 432,453 million yen. Direct Selling Group sales rose mainly due to higher sales in some Care Service businesses (ServiceMaster, Merry Maids, Terminix and Total Green), although sales declined in the core Clean Service business. Also, Mister Donut, the core business of Food Group, performed well, with both customer traffic and sales per customer increasing over the previous year.