Research

SAN Holdings: Funeral acquisitions, higher hall target, new August year-end

SAN HOLDINGS, INC. (9628) · Initiated coverage 2026-10-22 · Beluuga AI Research Team · Independent research

Not investment advice or a solicitation. See Important disclosures below.

Business overview

  • SAN Holdings is a holding company whose subsidiaries arrange and conduct funerals and sell related goods and services, including catering, return gifts, Buddhist altars, real estate brokerage referrals, post-funeral procedures, rehabilitation-focused day care and an end-of-life web platform. The company states that one product and service category accounts for nearly all external sales and that all sales are in Japan.
  • The core subsidiary Koekisha operates in the Kansai region (parts of Osaka, Hyogo and Nara) and the Tokyo area (parts of Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba). Sosen serves the Yonago, Tottori and Matsue areas, and Tarui serves Akashi in Hyogo. Kizuna group subsidiaries (Kazokuso no Famille, Hanakoma, Bizenya) focus on small family funerals across a number of prefectures from Hokkaido to Kyushu. An equity-method affiliate, Gran Ceremo Tokyo, is a joint venture with Kosaido Holdings in which SAN holds the minority stake.
  • Segments are reported by company group: Koekisha group, Sosen group, Tarui group, Kizuna group, Kokoro Net group (added in the transitional period to August 2026) and the holding-company group. The holding company owns or leases the funeral halls and sublets them to the operating subsidiaries, so a large part of its segment revenue is rent charged within the group.
  • Shareholders approved a change of fiscal year-end from March 31 to August 31 at the June 2025 general meeting. The transitional period ran 17 months from April 2025 to August 2026, so it cannot be compared directly with earlier 12-month years (see Performance & Balance).

Investment case

  1. The annual securities report for the year to March 2025 states that the group reached 267 owned funeral halls after consolidating Kizuna Holdings through a tender offer in September 2024. That count exceeded the 210-hall target the company had set for fiscal 2031, and the company raised the target to 550 halls by fiscal 2031.
  2. In February 2026 the company made Kokoro Net a consolidated subsidiary through a share exchange, extending its operating area to 21 prefectures. The company booked a gain on negative goodwill from this deal. It describes itself as Japan's largest listed pure-play funeral operator.
  3. The medium-term plan for fiscal 2025 to 2027 names ROE as the capital-efficiency metric, adds EBITDA as a key indicator and states an aim of a price-to-book ratio above one at an early date. The earnings release for the period to August 2026 restates a progressive dividend policy under which the company in principle does not cut the dividend. It also says the company will consider share buybacks flexibly, depending on the share price and other conditions.
  4. In the year to March 2025 the company sold its trust beneficiary interest in the Kitahama Excel Building, which it described as a non-core asset, and recorded a gain on the sale. Long-term borrowings taken on for the Kizuna acquisition were partly repaid during the transitional period to August 2026 (see Performance & Balance).

Bear case

  1. The company reports that average revenue per funeral is falling. It attributes this to more family funerals, one-day funerals and cremation-only services, and to its own shift toward family-funeral halls through the Ending Haus brand and the Kizuna acquisition.
  2. The earnings release for the period to August 2026 states that deaths in Japan fell from July 2025 to June 2026 compared with the prior year. It says the Koekisha, Sosen and Tarui groups were affected by fewer deaths in their operating areas.
  3. The Kizuna group recorded a segment loss for the transitional period, which the company attributes to fixed costs from new hall openings and goodwill amortization. Goodwill from the Kizuna acquisition is amortized over 16 years and remains a large balance-sheet item (see Performance & Balance).
  4. The company's forecast for the year to August 2027 projects lower net income than the transitional period. That period was longer and included the one-time negative goodwill gain. The forecast dividend implies a markedly higher payout ratio than in the transitional period.

Catalysts

  • The annual securities report for the period to August 2026 is scheduled for November 26, 2026, and the annual general meeting for November 27, 2026.
  • The year to August 2027 will be the first full 12-month year on the new calendar and the first year with a full-year contribution from Kokoro Net. Kizuna Holdings was merged into Kazokuso no Famille on September 1, 2026.
  • The medium-term plan runs through fiscal 2027. The company has stated a fiscal 2031 target of 550 halls and of growing its end-of-life support business into a core pillar.

Key risks

  • Demand depends on the number of deaths, which varies from year to year. Deaths are concentrated from December to February, so results are seasonal, and a severe influenza season can affect them.
  • The company describes the funeral industry as unregulated, with low barriers to entry. It cites competition from mutual-aid ceremony associations, railway, retail, cooperative and hotel companies, and online funeral referral services.
  • Large corporate and organizational funerals, handled mainly by Koekisha, vary in number from year to year. Goodwill and funeral-hall assets are exposed to impairment if earnings fall, and the company also discloses food-sanitation and personal-information risks.
  • The board renewed a takeover defense plan in May 2025, and shareholders approved it at the 96th annual meeting. The plan covers acquisitions reaching a 20% holding threshold and runs until the annual meeting expected in late November 2028. The board has six directors, two of them outside directors, and independent outside directors make up half, not a majority, of the nomination and compensation committees.

Trading liquidity

Median daily trading value US$0.43mn
Average daily volume 57,024 shares

2025-10-03 to 2026-10-21 (250 trading days). Trading value is daily closing price × daily volume on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Assumptions

  • Financial figures on this page come from beluuga.ai's daily data set; trading liquidity is measured over the period shown. We do not use consensus estimates.
  • The period to August 2026 covers 17 months. Within it, the Kizuna group is consolidated for 18 months because its results are included with a lag, and the Kokoro Net group only from April 2026. Year-on-year comparisons are therefore not meaningful.
  • The business-risk disclosure was filed in June 2025, before the Kokoro Net acquisition. It does not address the prepaid mutual-aid ceremony deposits that the company recorded as a liability on consolidating Kokoro Net.
  • Qualitative statements are taken from the annual securities report for the year to March 2025 and the earnings release for the 17-month transitional period to August 2026.

This is independent research. No company paid for or reviewed it. We do not publish ratings, price targets or buy/sell views. Figures on the other slides of this page come from beluuga.ai's daily data set.

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Overview
Services

SAN HOLDINGS,INC.

San Holdings, Inc. is a holding company operating primarily in the funeral services industry across Japan, providing end-to-end funeral ceremony services through multiple regional brands including Koekisha (Kansai and Greater Tokyo), Sosен (Tottori/Shimane), Tarui (Hyogo), and the Kizuna Group (Kazoku-so no Famille and others). The group offers a full suite of funeral-related products and services including ceremony planning and execution, floral arrangements, catering, return gifts, and Buddhist altar sales. The company also operates a life-ending web platform (LifeForward) addressing the growing 'shukatsu' (end-of-life planning) market in Japan.

Market Cap
¥28.3B
US$180M
EV
¥30.7B
US$195M
Stock¥1,204▼-2.43%
US$1 = ¥157.05 (2026-10-22)
LTM EV/EBITDA
5.1
x
LTM EV/EBIT
7.8
x
LTM PER
6.2
x
LTM PBR
0.6
x
Stock vs TOPIX (1Y, base=100)vs TOPIX ▼-41.2%pt
100
Oct 22, 25 – Oct 22, 26StockTOPIX
MC → EV Bridge
28.3BUS$180MMarket Cap13.7BUS$87.5M+ Debt9.45BUS$60.1M− Cash1.88BUS$12.0M− Inv. Sec.30.7BUS$195MEV
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Performance & Balance
Revenue 5Y (¥B)
20.0US$127M'22/321.7US$138M'23/322.4US$143M'24/332.0US$204M'25/357.7US$368M'26/8
EBITDA 5Y (¥B)
4.24US$27.0M'22/34.75US$30.2M'23/34.73US$30.1M'24/36.00US$38.2M'25/3
Net Income 5Y (¥B)
2.04US$13.0M'22/32.78US$17.7M'23/32.36US$15.0M'24/34.72US$30.1M'25/34.56US$29.0M'26/8
Capital Structure
76%
24%
EquityD/E 0.31xDebt
Liquidity vs Debt 5Y (¥B)▼ Net Debt
CashInv. Sec.Debt
7.44US$47.4M0.35US$2.25M'22/39.28US$59.1M0.27US$1.71M'23/39.91US$63.1M0.26US$1.63M'24/312.8US$81.7M17.8US$113M'25/311.3US$72.1M13.7US$87.5M'26/8
Shareholders
Top 10 hold 42.9%
1
The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd.
10.64%
2
Custody Bank of Japan, Ltd.
6.14%
3
GINSEN CO.,LTD.
5.40%
4
Koekisha Co., Ltd. (Kyoto)
4.40%
5
Yoko KUGO
3.83%
6
Yoshitaka KUGO
3.08%
7
Takashi KUGO
2.94%
8
Koji KONISHI
2.27%
9
Sumitomo Life Insurance Company
2.25%
10
SMBC Trust Bank Ltd.
1.95%
Management
9 officers
Yuichi NORO
Representative Director, Chairman
Apr 1986 Joined American Life Insurance Company Jul 1994 Seconded to AIG Marketing Co., Ltd. Apr 2001 Seconded to AIG Star Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Jun 2004 General Manager, Customer Strategy Division, American Life Insurance Company Apr 2006 Joined the Company; Executive Officer, Deputy General Manager, Marketing Strategy Department Jun 2007 Director Jun 2008 Managing Director Jun 2009 Senior Managing Director Jun 2011 Director, Vice President Jun 2013 Representative Director, Vice President Apr 2016 Representative Director, President Apr 2019 Representative Director, Chairman (current) Apr 2020 Representative Director, Chairman, LifeForward Co., Ltd. (current) Apr 2023 Representative Director, Chairman, Koekisha Co., Ltd. (current)
1962-08-30
Satoshi HARISHIMA
Representative Director, President
Apr 1987 Joined Recruit Computer Print Co., Ltd. (now Recruit Co., Ltd.) Apr 1999 Joined the Company; Manager, Tokyo Sales Department Oct 2003 Deputy General Manager, Osaka Sales Department Apr 2005 Executive Officer Jun 2006 Director Jun 2007 Managing Director Jun 2009 Senior Managing Director Jun 2011 Director, Vice President Jun 2013 Representative Director, Vice President Apr 2016 Representative Director, President, Koekisha Co., Ltd. Apr 2019 Representative Director, President (current) Apr 2025 Director, Chairman, Kizuna Holdings Co., Ltd. (current) Jun 2025 Representative Director, Vice Chairman, Koekisha Co., Ltd. (current)
1962-09-25
Yasuko MIYAJIMA
Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer; in charge of Marketing Planning Department, System & Operations Department and Information Systems Department; General Manager, Marketing Planning Department
Apr 1988 Joined Taisho Marine & Fire Systems Development Co., Ltd. (now MS&AD Systems Co., Ltd.) Mar 1997 Joined American Life Insurance Company May 2006 Joined the Company Apr 2008 Deputy General Manager, Marketing Strategy Department Jun 2009 Executive Officer, Deputy General Manager, Marketing Strategy Department Jun 2010 Managing Executive Officer, General Manager, Marketing Strategy Department Apr 2016 Senior Managing Executive Officer, General Manager, Information Systems Division Jun 2017 Director Apr 2019 Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer (current) Jun 2025 Representative Director, Senior Vice President, Kizuna Holdings Co., Ltd. (current)
1966-03-05
Yoshiyuki YOKOTA
Director, Executive Officer; in charge of General Affairs Department and Human Resources Department; in charge of Accounting Department; in charge of Corporate Planning Department; General Manager, Corporate Planning Department
Apr 1994 Joined Gaiart Kumagai Co., Ltd. (now Gaiart Co., Ltd.) May 1998 Joined Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. Sep 2000 Joined the Company Apr 2017 General Manager, Accounting Department Apr 2018 General Manager, Human Resources Department Apr 2019 Executive Officer, General Manager, Corporate Planning Department Apr 2021 Executive Officer; in charge of Accounting (Financial Planning), Human Resources (HR Planning) and Corporate Planning; General Manager, Corporate Planning Department Jun 2021 Director, Executive Officer (current) Apr 2022 Director, Grand Cérémo Tokyo Co., Ltd. (current)
1972-03-06
Kaoru YOKOMISE
Director
Apr 1981 Joined Kao Soap Co., Ltd. (now Kao Corporation) Oct 2013 General Manager, Sustainability Promotion Department, Corporate Communications Division, Kao Corporation Dec 2014 General Manager, Indirect Materials Department, Purchasing Division, Kao Corporation Apr 2018 Joined Consumer Affairs Agency Oct 2019 Senior Policy Specialist, Office of the Councilor, Cabinet Office Jun 2021 Outside Director, Audit and Supervisory Committee Member, Matsuda Sangyo Co., Ltd. Jun 2022 Director (current)
1957-11-19
Chihiro NEGISHI
Director
Jan 2008 Joined Pasona Fortune Co., Ltd. (now Pasona JOB HUB Co., Ltd.) Oct 2009 Joined Kohsaidou Co., Ltd. (now Kosaido Holdings Co., Ltd.) Apr 2015 Executive Officer, General Manager, Human Resources Business Division, HC Business Division Jun 2017 Director, General Manager, HRS Business Division and Solutions Division; in charge of HR-related subsidiaries Jun 2018 Managing Director; in charge of HR-related business and HR business subsidiaries; Person in charge of printing business transformation project Jun 2019 Representative Director, President, Kosaido Holdings Co., Ltd. Jul 2021 Senior Managing Director, Executive Officer Apr 2022 Representative Director, Chairman and President, Tokyo Hakuzen Co., Ltd.; Representative Director, President, Kohsaidou Next Co., Ltd. Jun 2022 Senior Managing Director, COO (Chief Operating Officer), Kosaido Holdings Co., Ltd. Apr 2023 Director, Chairman, Kohsaidou Next Co., Ltd. Jun 2024 Vice President, Senior Executive Officer, Kosaido Holdings Co., Ltd. Jun 2025 Director (current)
1968-11-02
Kazuhumi HATA
Full-time Corporate Auditor
Sep 1985 Joined Chuo Accounting Office Mar 1993 Registered as Certified Public Accountant Sep 2006 Partner, Misuzu Audit Corporation Aug 2007 Joined Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (now Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC); Partner Jun 2015 Adviser, the Company; Executive Officer in charge of audit, the Company Jun 2016 Corporate Auditor (current); Corporate Auditor, Koekisha Co., Ltd. (current); Corporate Auditor, Excel Support Service Co., Ltd. (current); Corporate Auditor, Sousen Co., Ltd. (current); Corporate Auditor, Tarui Co., Ltd. (current) Apr 2020 Corporate Auditor, LifeForward Co., Ltd. (current) Oct 2024 Corporate Auditor, Kizuna Holdings Co., Ltd. (current)
1959-05-28
Chiga HONMA
Corporate Auditor
Apr 1982 Joined Taiyo Kobe Bank, Ltd. (now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) Oct 1995 Assistant Manager, International Planning Department, the Bank Oct 1997 Seconded to Nippon Investors Service, Inc. (now Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I)); Chief Analyst May 2001 Deputy Manager, Market Operations Department, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Jan 2003 Resigned from the Bank Jan 2012 Registered as Attorney at Law Jun 2012 Director, Niigata Koekisha Co., Ltd. (current) Dec 2014 Established Honma Law Office; Representative Attorney (current) Jun 2019 Corporate Auditor (current)
1957-07-21
Yuto MIKAMI
Corporate Auditor
Sep 1981 Joined Kyowa Hakko Co., Ltd. Dec 1983 Joined American Life Insurance Company Jan 1989 Joined Sony Prudential Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (now Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd.) Apr 1998 General Manager, Administration Planning Division, the Company Apr 2007 General Manager, Medical Affairs Division, Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Apr 2010 Joined Memoread Life Co., Ltd.; Executive Officer, General Manager, Customer Service Department Jun 2011 Director, Executive Officer, General Manager, Customer Service Department and General Manager, Systems Department, Memoread Life Co., Ltd. Sep 2014 Registered as Gyoseishoshi (Administrative Scrivener) Jun 2017 Head, Mikami Yuto Administrative Scrivener Office (current) Jun 2019 Corporate Auditor (current)
1954-12-16
Large Shareholding Reports
No filings
Disclosures
No disclosures
Primary Source Filings
TDnet
2026-10-15
Full-Year Earnings Flash
FY ending Aug 2026
TDnet
2026-02-13
Q3 Earnings Flash
FY ending Aug 2026
EDINET
2025-11-14
Semi-Annual Securities Report
Period: Apr 2025 – Aug 2026
TDnet
2025-08-14
Q1 Earnings Flash
FY ending Aug 2026
EDINET
2025-06-26
Annual Securities Report
Period: Apr 2024 – Mar 2025
TDnet
2025-02-06
Q3 Earnings Flash
FY ending Mar 2025
EDINET
2024-11-08
Semi-Annual Securities Report
Period: Apr 2024 – Mar 2025
TDnet
2024-08-08
Q1 Earnings Flash
FY ending Mar 2025
EDINET
2024-06-26
Annual Securities Report
Period: Apr 2023 – Mar 2024
EDINET
2024-02-09
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Oct 2023 – Dec 2023
EDINET
2023-11-10
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Jul 2023 – Sep 2023
EDINET
2023-08-10
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Apr 2023 – Jun 2023
EDINET
2023-06-28
Annual Securities Report
Period: Apr 2022 – Mar 2023
EDINET
2023-02-14
Quarterly Securities Report
Period: Oct 2022 – Dec 2022
EDINET
2022-11-14
Quarterly Securities Report
EDINET
2022-08-12
Quarterly Securities Report
EDINET
2022-06-27
Annual Securities Report
EDINET
2022-02-10
Quarterly Securities Report
EDINET
2021-11-12
Quarterly Securities Report
EDINET
2021-08-12
Quarterly Securities Report
EDINET
2021-06-28
Annual Securities Report
EDINET
2021-02-12
Quarterly Securities Report
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