Kakaku com : Summary of Main Questions and Answers at Results Briefing for the Second Quarter of the Fiscal Year ending March 31, 2023

Summary of Main Questions and Answers at the Results Briefing for the

Second Quarter of the Fiscal Year ending March 2023, held on November 2, 2022

• Consolidated Results

1. Are there any changes in your assumptions for the full-year revenue growth rate for each business segment? Last time you mentioned that it was in the low single digits for Kakaku.com, just under 40% at

Tabelog and up to about 30% at New Media. I believe that it will be difficult for Kakaku.com to recover in H2. Could you share your thoughts on this?

1. We do not specifically disclose the full-year plan for each business, but I did mention in our last earnings presentation that we expect a low single-digit figure for Kakaku.com, 40% for Tabelog, and 30% for New Media. I believe that the situation in H1 will realistically lead to a change in the full-year growth rate for each business.
   Especially for Tabelog, based on the results of our efforts in H1, we have achieved much stronger numbers than 40%, and we expect this trend to continue. I am not going to give specifics, but I believe that we will be able to achieve the full-year forecast in total, with a slight increase in Tabelog and a slight decrease in Kakaku.com.

• Kakaku.com

1. It didn't sound like the Kakaku.com business would recover much in H2, but is it also expected to be difficult to achieve an increase YoY?

1. We believe that the situation in H2 will not be as difficult as it was in H1 of the year, as we had a very difficult H1. Our plan is currently underway in anticipation of achieving an increase YoY.

1. What exactly is a drop in search results rankings, and what has caused this drop in the rankings? Will there be any impact on the site UI?

1. I am afraid I cannot comment on this, because information on how changes in the search engine algorithm affect search rankings, such as which site will go up and which site will go down, are not disclosed. However, to some extent, we have been able to make assumptions on why the organic traffic in the consumables category declined. Therefore, we have made improvements to the site and search rankings have been returning to previous levels since the end of September.
   There is no major impact on the site UI.

• Tabelog

1. Am I correct in understanding that the number of people who made online reservations in September has recovered to the level of Q1 and has continued to increase since then? Also, what is your view of this year's

year-end party season?

1. In terms of recovery from the impact of COVID-19, the number of people making online reservations is increasing. Although it is still too early to say, Q3 and Q4 are the seasons in which numbers are expected to increase significantly, so we believe that we will be able to make steady progress against the numbers projected at the beginning of the fiscal year.
   As for the outlook for the year-end party season, I am sorry to being vague, but we believe that demand for banquets will recover considerably, but will probably not return to pre-COVID levels.
   Tabelog has never been a strong site for reservations for a large number of people. In fact, this is an area we need to work on in the future. Therefore, even if demand for year-end parties does not gain momentum, we believe that the number of online reservations will not be lower than our initial estimates and expectations or as compared to pre-COVID.

1. Regarding Tabelog, what trends are you seeing in terms of the increase in online reservations, if you break it down into the expansion of the number of restaurants contracting the online reservation service, the increase in seating inventory per restaurant, and the number of people per reservation?

1

1. Online reservations have increased both due to an increase in the number of stores using it and the increase in seating inventory per restaurant. However, the biggest factor in the increase in online reservations, which was not mentioned in your question just now, is the recovery from the impact of COVID-19. In addition to that, the number of restaurants using the online reservation service of Tabelog is increasing, and the inventory per restaurant is increasing. Those factors combined are contributing to an increase in online reservations.
   As for the number of people per reservation, there has not been much increase. We are not seeing any trend of a substantial increase or return to the previous level.

Q: With the re-opening, we can expect recovery in the restaurant market toward the end of the year. Regarding Tabelog, do you expect the number of restaurants contracted for PR services to accelerate? What is your current expectation for the number of restaurants at the end of the fiscal year against your target of 46,000 to 48,000?

1. In Q1 and Q2, our sales activities progressed as planned, but there were some slowdowns due to the resurgence in COVID infections. In Q3 and Q4, owing to the reopening and strong seasonality, I hope that we can make up for the slowdown in Q2 and accelerate the pace of growth even more than before.
   In that sense, rather than expecting or not expecting, we would like to steadily implement the plan we made at the beginning of the term without any particular change.

Q: I think you mentioned earlier that the high cost of raw materials may be a factor behind the weak recovery in the number of restaurants contracting the Tabelog's promotion service. The external environment for restaurants is becoming more difficult, but has there been any change in the willingness of restaurants to sign contracts with Tabelog?

1. We thought that the willingness to sign contracts and promote sales would increase in anticipation of the recovery from the impact of COVID-19, but the high cost of raw materials has been slowing down the recovery and the willingness to sign contracts has not recovered to that extent. I would like you to understand that the willingness to sign contracts has not completely recovered.

Q: What is the latest number of fee-paying restaurants for Tabelog?

1. The 67,400 restaurants at the end of this Q2 are what we are currently disclosing. We will disclose further numbers in the course of the if necessary. Therefore, (if we do disclose any other numbers) please refer to those figures.

1. Do you have any update on the number of restaurants using Tabelog Order and progress in your partnerships?

1. There is no update on Tabelog Order at this time. Once we have some solid numbers and information that we can disclose, we will keep you updated.

Q: Please explain the direct and indirect impacts of the national travel discount, Tokyo's Go To Eat, and the removal of the cap on the number of visitors entering the country on the Tabelog business.

1. I believe that the national travel discount, Tokyo's Go To Eat, and the removal of the cap on the number of visitors entering the country will indirectly all have a positive impact.
   Although there will be little direct impact, we believe that the restaurant industry will be energized and restaurants' business confidence will improve, which will have a positive impact on the posting of more and more seating inventory, and the expansion of the number of restaurants with promotion service contracts.

2

• New Media and Solutions/Finance

1. What is the background behind the slowdown in the number of monthly users of Kyujin Box.
   (Q1：YoY+19.1％、Q2：+9.8％)

1. I think it is inevitable that the growth rate will naturally decline as the parameter becomes larger. But this also happened even when the parameter was small. In Q3 of the fiscal year ended March 2021, even though revenue increased YoY, traffic numbers dropped QoQ. The number of users goes up and down depending on search engine algorithms and our various initiatives. I hope you do not think that there are any special circumstances such as that our initiatives were less successful in Q2 than in Q1, or that there were any other factors at play.

1. Regarding Kyujin Box, can you disclose any KPIs for Saiyo Board ("Hiring Board" a service for hiring companies to create a company page on Kyujin Box and post job openings), such as how many tens of

thousands of companies use it, or DAUs/MAUs.

1. Many companies use Saiyo Board, but since users (i.e. the job seekers) are free to choose which companies they apply to, we are not particularly aware of DAUs or MAUs limited to Saiyo Board.
   However, if these KPIs are of significance, we will consider what figures to disclose, including overall disclosure.
   Also, I am sorry, but we do not disclose the number of companies using Saiyo Board, so I will refrain from doing so.

1. What are the possibilities for expanding the scope of the business, such as job placement services and various support services related to corporate recruiting, hiring, and training activities?

1. There is nothing in particular that we are planning or can say at this time. We will continue with our current business model and operations, but there is a good chance that we will expand our business domain to make Kyujin Box more convenient to use, for example, by expanding into areas such as job placement, including the use of direct application forms. We are considering all possibilities, but we do not have any specifics on what we will start this quarter or anything like that.

1. This is about the travel and transportation in New Media and Solutions/Finance. Has the operating margin improved YoY and QoQ, respectively? I believe the absolute amount is undisclosed, but I would like to ask about the momentum.

1. In this regard, the operating profit margin has improved significantly compared to last year. In particular, LCL, which operates a comparison site for express buses and other services, has a fairly high operating profit margin, so with an increase in revenue, the gross profit also increases significantly, which has led to considerable improvements.
   As for Time Design, the demand was very strong, especially for travel itself. We are not using any advertising expenses to increase sales or anything of the sort, but we have seen a significant improvement in profits.

1. Is it possible for Pathee, Inc. to become profitable during the fiscal year ending March 2023 through synergies with Kakaku.com?

1. I believe there are a lot of synergies with Kakaku.com, including personnel and cultural exchange, as well as mutual understanding. However, it does not mean that we will be able to generate revenue or profits in the short term. We do not particularly expect such effects, especially since Pathee, Inc.'s business plan will not suddenly change just because we have invested capital in the company.

3