Press Releases

Fujikura Ltd. (Director, President and CEO: Naoki Okada) has received the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at corporate governance Year 2025 awards sponsored by the Japan Association of Corporate Directors.
This is the first time that Fujikura has been recognized with corporate governance of the Year award.

The government has positioned corporate corporate governance as one of its growth strategy, and this award has been held annually since 2015 by the Japan Association of Corporate Directors (JACD), a general incorporated association, to support companies that use this to achieve medium- to long-term growth.
This year's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award recognizes companies that have taken cutting-edge initiatives and effectively managed their operations from the perspective of "selecting personnel in line with strategy to strengthen a company's earning power when selecting presidents and CEOs and planning their succession," and Fujikura was selected based on the following five criteria, taking into account the background described below.

[Background to Fujikura's current governance system: 100-day plan for business revitalization and radical reform of management structure]
After suffering its largest-ever net loss in settlement of accounts March 2020, the company formulated a "100-day plan" aimed at quickly revitalizing business from this critical financial situation. The plan involves "selection and concentration" of business, including the withdrawal or sale of unprofitable business and the sale of idle assets. The plan also includes fundamental management reforms, including the abolition of the in-house company system, reduction of executive directors and Executive Officer, and adoption of a CEO/COO structure, with the aim of achieving business revitalization by the end of fiscal 2021. From fiscal 2022, the company will transition to a sustainable growth phase, with a three-headed executive structure consisting of the CEO, CTO, and CFO. The CFO will complement the functions of finance, while the CTO will utilize his expertise in technology development, allowing the CEO to drive company-wide strategy.

1. Promoting a systematic succession plan
The current president was selected from multiple candidates for the next president through a succession program (providing opportunities to receive management advice and guidance, classroom training on management, etc.) through the "system for developing management leaders" established under the previous president's system. Furthermore, when he was promoted to the corporate strategy planning unit at headquarters in 2020 with an eye toward becoming president, he gained rigorous practical experience during a management crisis, including leading the formulation and implementation of the "100-day plan" (see background above) as a managing Executive Officer, and was interviewed by the Nomination Advisory committee before being appointed president in 2022.

2. Board succession linked to Corporate Strategy
In conjunction with the formulation of the new Mid-Term Plan starting in fiscal year 2026, the skills matrix required of directors has been revised. The Nominating Advisory committee not only verifies the process for determining the appointment and dismissal of directors, including the president, but also participates in the specific selection of outside directors, thus implementing board succession initiatives to enhance the company's "earning power."

3. Human resource development centered on strategy stories
Fujikura's human resource development is based on the idea of "being able to tell strategy story for every business." Fujikura has created multiple management human resource pools by age group. The CEO and other executives have opportunities to discuss topics such as "what is business strategy?" and "how did we recover from a management crisis?" Members of different generations and backgrounds gather to discuss specific themes that Fujikura should prioritize from diverse perspectives. These initiatives create a development program that allows employees to gain the necessary managerial experience early on by directly interacting with the current management team's thinking and actions and engaging in practical problem-solving. Furthermore, as part of its business development efforts, a system is in place that allows employees of all ages to directly submit ideas to the president. Once hired, employees receive both personal and financial support and a forum for discussing strategy storytelling with the president, including "why this business is viable, to which customer, what value can it provide, and how can it win against the competition?" This system ensures the continuous development of human resource to enhance corporate value over the medium to long term.

4. Effective composition Board of Directors' Meeting
Since implementing fundamental reforms to its management structure during the crisis (see Background above), Board of Directors' Meeting Board of Directors' Meeting Board of Directors' Meeting be outside directors, and currently appoints outside directors (directors who are not audit and supervisory committee members) who have experience as presidents or vice presidents of global companies. While striving for and implementing corporate governance reforms that are consistent with Corporate Strategy, the company is also aware of the issues with the current structure, and is not satisfied with the status quo, aiming to create an even better system and mechanisms.

5. Excellent financial performance
Since 2020, the company has been working on continuous improvements to Corporate Management. As a result of fundamental improvements to its revenue structure, including sophisticated break-even point management, thorough management of marginal profit margins, and shortening of the cash conversion settlement of accounts, the consolidated financial results for fiscal year 2024 showed record-high net profit for the fourth consecutive year, and almost all business units achieved the targets of Mid-Term Plan that began in fiscal year 2023 one year ahead of schedule. Furthermore, the company has achieved high financial performance, with ROE and ROA showing an upward trend, and has gained market valuation, as reflected in its high PBR and TSR.

For details, please refer to the link below.
URL: https://www.jacd.jp/news/cgoy/260109_2025-2.html

In order to achieve sustainable growth and increase corporate value over the medium to long term, Fujikura will strive to improve and strengthen its corporate governance system, which ensures sound, transparent, and efficient management.

Click here for Fujikura's corporate governance.
https://www.fujikura.co.jp/company/governance/corporate-governance/index.html