(160A) Stock Price

AZ Partners is a company that operates senior care services and related real estate businesses centered on lifestyle themes. Its core business is operating assisted living homes, and it also provides daytime and short-term care services through adult day services and respite care. The company uses its proprietary co-developed platform "EGAO link" to improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

The company primarily serves elderly individuals requiring care assistance or support. Its assisted living homes are used mainly by middle to upper-income seniors. Revenue is composed of approximately 76% from senior care services and approximately 24% from real estate operations, generated through resident fees, management fees, meal costs, insurance reimbursements, and real estate rental, development, and sales income.

The company operates its real estate business through three pillars: senior development, solutions, and revenue-generating properties. In self-development projects, it handles everything from land acquisition and construction to self-operation or sale to investors and real estate operators. It also generates revenue through rehabilitation of aging properties and ownership of rental properties. The company pursues a dominant strategy in the greater Tokyo area, operating 50 facilities in total—29 assisted living homes, 17 adult day services, and 4 respite care centers—and plans to gradually expand its facilities going forward.

The company positions itself as a "multi-generational lifestyle proposal company," pursuing sustainable growth through two core pillars: senior care services and real estate. Operating profit and facility occupancy rates are its primary performance metrics. Currently, the company operates 29 care homes (including 17 day service centers and 4 short-stay facilities, totaling 50 locations), concentrated in a dominant cluster strategy within the inner ring of Route 16 in the Greater Tokyo Area. The company plans to open 4 new facilities by March 2026 and another 4 by March 2027, aiming to improve profitability through both quantitative expansion and occupancy rate improvements.

Key investment priorities are operational productivity and workforce development. The company deployed its proprietary platform "EGAO link," developed in 2017, across all homes between 2019 and 2020, achieving operational efficiency through digitized record-keeping and reduced nighttime rounds via real-time bed monitoring. On the workforce front, the company has strengthened new graduate recruitment, creating a virtuous cycle by hiring over 170 new graduates for three consecutive years who align with company values, while developing care DX talent capable of leveraging "EGAO link."

The company's expansion strategy focuses on senior property development and care DX commercialization. In senior development, it handles everything from renovating aging properties and acquiring land to construction and opening facilities, then monetizes by selling completed buildings to REITs and funds while continuing operations as a tenant. For care DX, the company partners with other organizations to support "EGAO link" implementation, provide training and consulting to other operators, and commercialize its expertise through systems and applications for external deployment as a growth driver.

Technology innovation centers on data-driven care (scientific care) and operational visualization. Leveraging daily care data accumulated in "EGAO link," the company has verified care effectiveness and implemented independence-support methodologies, confirming significant improvements in resident independence levels since September 2023. Going forward, the company will operationalize operational analysis dashboards and AI-powered care plan creation tools to reduce frontline burden and enhance service quality, thereby differentiating itself in the care market facing chronic labor shortages.