New Year’s Message for 2024 (Summary) Happy New Year, everyone. The news of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture, followed by the fire of an aircraft at Haneda Airport the next day from the beginning of New Year's Day, led to a truly turbulent new year. I pray for the souls of those who died in these disasters and offer our condolences and sympathies to those affected and their families. I pray for the early recovery and reconstruction. Looking back on 2023, it was a year in which I felt the changes to the so-called post-COVID-19 era, as COVID-19, which had a major impact on our way of life and values, was transferred to Class 5 under the Infectious Diseases Act, and various events that had previously been restrained and restricted were revived, as well as traffic in and out of Japan. In the domestic economy, the Nikkei Stock Average recovered to the 33,000-yen level in June for the first time in about 33 years, and attention is focused on the future of the Japanese economy for a full-scale post-coronavirus economic recovery. On the other hand, looking at the world, the international situation has become more destabilized and uncertain, with Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine and the outbreak of the Israeli-Hamas conflict. ＜Business Performance＞ In the first half of the fiscal year, our group achieved the first half plan, with sales of ¥399.1 billion and operating income of ¥30.8 billion, partly due to a tailwind caused by the weak yen and strong domestic demand in the Power Systems business. In the second half of the fiscal year, we lowered our full-year forecast from 770 billion yen in sales and 60 billion yen in operating income under the initial plan to 760 billion yen in sales and 54 billion yen in operating income, in anticipation of the impact of the postponement of investment by U.S. telecommunications carriers caused by BABA (Build America, Buy America) in the Telecommunication Systems business and the prolonged inventory adjustment in the electronic components market in the Electronics business. ＜Inappropriate act at U.S. subsidiaries＞ Last year, it was discovered that former director our company, who was the CEO of a U.S. subsidiary, illegally acquired corporate assets and used them privately. I apologize again for the great concern and inconvenience this has caused you. Based on the analysis of the real cause of this incident, our group has begun to review the concentration of authority on specific officers at U.S. subsidiaries, strengthen the governance system and internal rules of each operating company, and provide education to officers and employees. ＜Safety and Health＞ Health and safety management is fundamental to all activities, and is an important corporate foundation and corporate value. The number of disaster reports has been on the decline in recent years due to the promotion of essential safety activities triggered by the serious disaster that occurred in April 2016. Our group will work together to create a safe and comfortable working environment and to maintain and improve physical and mental health. ＜As We Enter 2024＞ 2024 will be an important year to accelerate the growth strategy of the 2025 Mid-Term Management Plan. In order to survive the fierce competition in the world and maintain our company's superiority, the Fujikura Group will work together to become a highly profitable company with "Enterprising Spirit" and "Fujikura of Technology."
