Q&A of Conference for the Medium Term Management Plan in 2015
The following includes questions and answers at the Conference for the Medium Term Management Plan on May 14, 2015.
Overall
Q. Please tell us about the significance of this Medium Term Management Plan announced on May 14, 2015.
A. In the first fiscal year of the Medium Term Management Plan we announced last June, we made downward revisions to earnings forecasts on multiple occasions, and the final operating results were lackluster. Taking the results of the first year and the forecasted severe business environment into consideration sufficiently, we altered the management numerical targets. This Management Plan is basically fixed as our commitment that we must achieve over the upcoming 3 years, including related strategies, and we will verify the achievements each year.
Q. Did you have the option of placing the most emphasis on the level of profits during the Management Plan's fiscal years, even if sales contracted?
A. In formulating this Management Plan, our basic policy was to continue investments and activities targeting future growth. Of course we will emphasize operating performance and management numerical targets during the plan's fiscal years, and work to maximize them, but we are aiming to reform our earnings structure, including existing businesses, over the medium to long-term horizon, so we would therefore like you to understand that it is necessary for us to carry out strategic investments during the fiscal years of the management plan.
Q. Please tell us about major structural reforms, such as restructuring, or revisions to the production system.
A. We are shifting resources to new businesses, and otherwise revising allocation of resources on a company-wide level, and are working to make existing businesses more efficient. The review of production sites within the group is something we will of course carry out in response to changes in the business environment. We have already made short-term revisions, and have started to carry out revisions from the medium to long-term perspective as well.