(E04112) Stock Price

Echigo Kotsu is a comprehensive transportation service company based in Niigata Prefecture, with passenger transportation operations including buses and taxis as its core business. The company operates a group consisting of 9 subsidiaries and 2 affiliated companies, and manages four business divisions: transportation, construction, real estate, and wholesale/retail in addition to its core operations. While providing regional public transportation through the operation of scheduled and chartered buses, the group pursues diversified business activities across all divisions.

The company serves a broad customer base ranging from local residents to corporations, and has built stable revenue structures across each business division. In transportation, it operates bus services for general passengers and tourists. In construction, it handles building projects for group facilities. In real estate, it leases land and buildings to subsidiaries. The wholesale/retail division provides diverse services spanning automobile sales, travel services, and food and beverage operations, advancing community-based business development.

In transportation, Echigo Kotsu and its subsidiary Minami-Echigo Kanko Bus handle passenger transportation, while Kanko operates the taxi business. The construction division operates with four companies, and the real estate division has four companies managing land and building leases. The wholesale/retail division is the most diversified, spanning six fields: merchandise sales, petroleum product sales, automobile sales and maintenance, travel services, food and beverage operations, and health equipment sales, with each group company leveraging its specialized expertise in business operations.

Echigo Kotsu is a comprehensive transportation company based in Niigata Prefecture. While facing dual challenges of rising prices and labor shortages, the company aims to enhance corporate value through differentiation in service and technology. With its core bus business serving the public interest, the company operates diversified businesses including construction, real estate, and wholesale/retail. It pursues a management policy of rigorous cost control while contributing to regional development. As fuel and utility costs rise and compress profitability across divisions, balancing workforce recruitment through improved compensation with business continuity has become the top management priority.

Digital technology adoption for operational efficiency is the cornerstone of the company's differentiation strategy. In its core bus business, the company is implementing cashless payment systems and employee health management systems to improve customer convenience and optimize operations. This digital transformation is advancing across both sales and administrative divisions and is attracting investor attention as a means to simultaneously reduce boarding times and cut operational costs. The company also plans to expand its role as a public transportation infrastructure adapted to modern times through strengthened coordination with government.

In the tourism division, the company is deploying new strategies to respond to market shifts from group travel to individual travel following the pandemic. Beyond traditional charter bus operations, the company aims to create new value through developing customized bus tours tailored to individual customer needs. In construction, despite headwinds from material cost inflation and engineer shortages, the company maintains sound management by leveraging integrated capabilities across three divisions: building, mechanical equipment, and civil engineering. The real estate division secures continuous revenue streams through attracting tenants to vacant spaces and effectively utilizing idle land, while planning parallel investments in updating aging facilities over several years.

In automotive sales, responding to manufacturer delivery delays is key to securing near-term revenue. To prevent customer loss from prolonged delivery waits, the company has built a detailed customer follow-up system and maximizes revenue opportunities by directing existing customers from vehicle inspection and maintenance services to new and used car sales and insurance products. While each business division faces distinct challenges, strengthening the management foundation to flexibly respond to changing market conditions—by balancing human capital investment with capital investment—forms the axis of the company's medium to long-term strategy.