Enter 2025, the devoted fans gunned for the Hankyu-owned Hanshin Tigers baseball team—part of the company’s Entertainment segment—at the Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The cheering didn’t go in vain as the team won the 2025 JERA Central League championship title championship title in September, for the first time in two years. And while they didn’t earn a spot in the final championship event, the team’s effort did somewhat help in getting good press for Hankyu Hanshin, if not that much in the balance sheet.

Numbers game

While the Entertainment segment was mostly in the news, the Real Estate, Urban Transportation and International Transportation segments were the main engines that stealthily did the heavy lifting to deliver H1 26 results. Hankyu reported consolidated operating revenue of JPY 598.8bn, up JPY 64.1bn from the same period last year. The enterprise raked in JPY 84.7bn in profit, which is an uptick of JPY 17.2bn y/y.

Digging into the numbers, the Real Estate segment delivered the biggest jump. Operating profit soared to JPY 37.4bn in H1 26, a huge jump from JPY 29.1bn it pulled last year. A spike in condominium sales and steady income from leasing drove the Real Estate segment's performance. Even as the Expo was the headline, the company witnessed a wave of inbound travelers for events such as the National Day of China. Looking ahead, the company expects an operating profit of JPY 127.4bn in FY 26, up 16.4bn in FY 25, thanks to the Hotel business holding the fort plus an expected drop in expenses.

Hosting the quinquennial World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai this year pushed their core businesses into high gear. It is safe to say that the Expo acted as a catalyst as the event handed over JPY 5.0bn to Hankyu profit across segments. The Urban Transportation segment came in second, contributing JPY 22.4bn in profit, a 13.6% increase from JPY 19.7bn. Translation: Thanks to the Expo, more people used public transport, which meant more moolah for the Railway and Automobile business. The International Transport segment reported a JPY 0.7bn operating profit, after previously being in the red at JPY -1.7bn. Swinging from a loss to a profit, the success was driven by the conglomerate’s efforts to expand its logistics network.

Bringing out the crystal ball

As part of its long-term plans, the company plans to hit a business profit of JPY 130bn by FY 31. It also has plans to hold onto return on equity (ROE) around 7% over the medium-to-long term.

There have been reams of newsprint dedicated to Japan's demographic challenge. The plummeting birth rate is said to worsen labor shortages. Hankyu too maybe a victim to this hurdle. The Entertainment segment is still reeling from the Takarazuka Revue controversy which saw both its revenue and profit decrease because of fewer performances and decline in its merchandise sales. The Hanshin Tigers did neutralize the revenue dip, but there’s only so much a team can do to bail out the currently struggling division.