President's Message

Amid ongoing global economic uncertainty in the fiscal year ended November 2025, raw material price inflation, the prolonging of geopolitical risks, fluctuating exchange rates, stagnant demand primarily in the automotive industry, and other factors continued to create a challenging business environment for us. However, even under this environment, our Group was able to steadily execute its growth strategy and strengthen its management foundation under the Medium-Term Management Plan, increasing sales and profit for the full fiscal year. We recognize this as the result not of transient factors but of steady progress in our initiatives aimed at transforming our business portfolio and improving our profitability.

In particular, under weakening demand in the automotive industry worldwide, we were able to capture demand in growth industries, such as aircraft, energy, semiconductors, electronic components, medical care, and robots. We are making progress in our ongoing efforts to reduce dependence on the automotive industry and optimize resource allocation in the direction of growth areas. The expansion of sales in these areas is supporting performance Group wide and is solidly leading to profit growth.

Our Medium-Term Management Plan, "Beyond the Limit 2027," has the key themes of qualitative transformation of our business portfolio and the restoration of profitability. Our performance in FY2025 shows in numbers that this strategy is steadily shifting to the phase of creating outcomes. In micro and precision machining and other growth areas, by expanding our sales of catalog products and high-valueadded products, and enhancing productivity and improving the product mix, we are boosting profitability.
Our 35-country global network serves as a great strength in adapting flexibly to region-by-region changes in demand and in the external environment. Our sales and production system, rooted in individual regions, has made it possible to quickly reflect current local information into our management, allowing us to engage in agile product supply and proposal activities. This globally-deployed business foundation enhances our tolerance to changes in the external environment and supports stable growth.

Furthermore, the promotion of sustainability is essential for achieving sustainable corporate growth. In our Medium-Term Management Plan, the Group positions ESG as a key theme for strengthening its management foundation and is actively working toward the realization of a carbon-neutral society.
As a unified Group, we strive to reduce environmental impact and contribute to the development of a circular economy. At the same time, we have established a framework for centrally managing CO₂ emissions and product-specific carbon footprints across both domestic and international sites, thereby advancing global decarbonization management.
We recognize that this integrated management platform is not only important for responding to international regulations and disclosure requests from business partners, but also for delivering value to our customers through the reduction of environmental impact.
In addition, through the expanded deployment of environmentally friendly products such as "GREEN TAP," we will continue to contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions in our customers' manufacturing processes.

Looking ahead, we will continue strengthening our efforts aimed at growth industries while working to enhance our competitiveness through sustained investment in each area, from research and development to production processes. At the same time, we will promote management that is conscious of capital efficiency, improve our ROE and other financial indicators, and work to strengthen our sustainable cash generation capabilities. We seek to enhance our medium-to long-term corporate value through these initiatives.

In an era of ever-accelerating change, companies must have the capability to accurately grasp environmental changes and always evolve flexibly. In addition to our technological capabilities and global management foundation, we regard our human resources--who respond to change and continue to pursue challenges and growth--as a core source of competitiveness. Accordingly, we are fostering an organizational framework that maximizes the potential of a diverse workforce. Going forward, we will continue to contribute to the advancement of society and industry, while achieving sustainable growth as a company.