Q: Please summarize the results for the FY2015 by market.

Yuki:
Based on the concept of supplying high-quality, customer-satisfying products with the "IRISO- ness" to the most suitable markets, we are committed to providing unique connector products that no other company can offer to the automotive market, where electrical equipment, safety, and environmental initiatives are accelerating, and to the consumer and industrial markets, where new production methods utilizing the IoT(*1) are being adopted. We are developing our business globally based on the principle of providing unique connector products that no other company can offer to the market.
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​​The automotive market is divided into car AVN (*2) and electrical-related car electronics. Although there was a drop in sales of car AVN, sales of safety systems (cameras, radars, etc.) in the car electronics field fell.
) As a result, car AVN sales for the current fiscal year decreased 3.6% year on year to 17,504 million yen, accounting for 45.9% of total sales, while car electronics sales increased 19.1% year on year to 14,712 million yen. Yen, composition ratio was 38.5%.

In the automotive market as a whole, sales increased 5.6% year on year to 32,257 million yen, accounting for 84.4% of the total. By region, overseas sales, centered on the United States, are expanding strongly.

On the other hand, in the consumer market, sales for game consoles and digital cameras decreased, resulting in net sales of 4,692 million yen, down 14.2% year on year, accounting for 12.3% of the total sales.

In the industrial market, sales of inverters, smart meters and other industrial equipment were strong, and net sales increased 6.0% year on year to 1,259 million yen, accounting for 3.3% of the total.

• *1: IoT: Abbreviation for Internet of Things.
• *2: AVN: An acronym for Audio, Visual, Navigation, which refers to car audio in general, navigation systems, etc.

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Q: How do you analyze the results for the current fiscal year?

Yuki:
In this fiscal year, the use of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) accelerated due to advances in electronic equipment and safe driving support technology in the automotive field, and sales for safety systems (in-vehicle cameras, millimeter-wave radar) in the car electronics field grew significantly. The effect of foreign exchange rates has also boosted business performance, and sales have reached a record high.

In the industrial market, sales increased steadily, contributing to business performance.In terms of profit and loss, although cost reductions were made to offset an unexpected drop in selling prices due to the weak yen, profits decreased due to sluggish demand in the automotive market, mainly in China, and a decline in demand for game consoles and other products in the consumer market.

Q: Please tell us about the challenges for further growth.

Yuki:
In the medium-term management plan that we are currently promoting, the most important issue for growth is to "promote the globalization of our business under the theme of 'creation of customer value'."
Aggressive sales promotion activities in each overseas market contributed to the performance of the current term. We will aggressively expand our sales promotion activities to ensure growth as a truly global company.

In the automotive field, which is our main market, along with the development of car electronics, it is expected that motor drive systems will increase along with the dramatic growth of eco-friendly EV/HEV vehicles.
As a result, the electrification of powertrains will progress, and the demand for highly reliable connectors will increase.

We are quick to respond to these changes in the environment surrounding automobiles, and have further evolved our "Floating Connector", which boasts the most variations in the industry.
Last year, we developed and released the world's first product "Z-Move structure" that makes full use of new connection technology, and this product is installed in the motor drive system of HEV vehicles.
It is one of the core products as we accelerate our global expansion.

At the same time, in the automotive field in the future, the installation of safety-related devices such as collision prevention and automatic driving is expected to expand.
In the safety field as well, business opportunities are expanding, such as the increased use of IRISO 's unique connectors for millimeter-wave radar and automotive cameras due to the expansion of ADAS, and we will accelerate our strategy in this field.

In this way, a new growing market has been created in the automotive market, and we will demonstrate IRISO 's strengths in this new field and strongly promote business expansion.

In addition, we will accelerate the development of products and technologies that meet the needs of the rapidly evolving automotive market, aiming to provide valuable connector products that pursue the “IRISO-ness”.
We will strive to further expand our business by promoting basic measures such as strengthening the production system, establishing a sales expansion system in the industrial field, cultivating new customers, and developing new fields.

Q: Please tell us about future growth investments.

Yuki:
In addition to improving contact technology linked to cutting-edge electronics technology, our company is required to continuously enhance, rationalize, and save labor in our production facilities in order to meet the demands of our customers in terms of both accuracy and cost.
In the current fiscal year, capital investment amounted to 5,446 million yen due to thorough streamlining investments and measures to shift from the BtoC domain to the BtoB domain in line with the development trends of Japanese Tier 1 (*3) manufacturers, who are our main customers. .

In the next fiscal year, in order to become a “truly global company that creates customer value,” we will develop new products and conduct global sales activities with a focus on applications that will change and grow in the future. This will lead to increased sales in the market.
Since we have sales bases in more than 10 countries including Japan, we will further strengthen our overseas sales capabilities, develop new customers and expand our share among customers, and simultaneously expand sales of IRISO Only One products globally (Z-Move structure ™, etc.).

In the future, we will actively expand investment for the purpose of future business expansion, such as expanding investment in new product development and establishing a new factory to expand production bases.
We plan to expand investment in line with our business plan, and plan to invest 9,360 million yen.

• *3: Tier 1: Represents a company that supplies parts directly to automakers.

Q: Please tell us about the business environment and earnings outlook for the FY2016.

Yuki:
In the global economy, the United States is expected to continue to perform strongly, and the European economy is also expected to continue to recover, albeit moderately, although each country faces various risks.
On the other hand, there are concerns about the slowdown of the Chinese economy and how this will affect the global economy.
In the Japanese economy, trends in monetary policy and exchange rates are unstable, and economic recovery is slowing down.

Based on the concept of supplying high-value-added products with "IRISO-ness" to markets that accept them, we will actively develop and supply products, expand in-house manufacturing, and develop new production bases to cope with increased production, with a focus on the automotive market, which is becoming more electrified and more focused on safety and the environment, and the industrial market and consumer-related market, which are non-vehicle markets, as our three pillars.
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For the full year, we plan net sales of 38.3 billion yen (up 0.2% from the current year), operating income of 6.9 billion yen (up 5.0%), ordinary income of 6.9 billion yen (up 4.6%), and net income attributable to owners of the parent of 5.1 billion yen (up 26.1%), assuming exchange rates of 110 yen/$ and 120 yen/€.
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Q: Finally, please give a message to shareholders.

Yuki:
In December 2016, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of our founding.
As the global economy continues to diversify, we will target the automotive, consumer, and industrial markets. , aiming to be one of the world's top 10 companies in the connector industry, we will strive to become a "100-year company that creates customer value" with a strong presence.

At the meeting of the Board of Directors held on May 16, 2016, the Board of Directors resolved to dispose of treasury stock and sell shares in order to expand the investor base and improve the liquidity of the stock.
The funds obtained from this transaction will be used for the establishment of a new factory in Mexico, which is currently being planned for the purpose of future business expansion.
With this funding, we will enhance our ability to develop and supply high-value-added products that meet global needs, and establish a stronger earnings base, which will lead to an increase in corporate value.

The Company recognizes the stable return of profits to shareholders as an important management policy, and its basic policy is to pay dividends in consideration of business performance, the business environment, and the strengthening of its medium- to long-term financial structure. increase.
Our basic policy on retained earnings is to use them effectively to enhance our cost competitiveness, strengthen our technological development and manufacturing systems to meet market needs, and further develop our global strategy in order to respond to anticipated changes in the business environment.

Based on the above policy, we decided to pay a year-end dividend of 60 yen per share for the fiscal year under review.
Regarding dividends for the next fiscal year, we plan to pay a commemorative dividend of 20 yen per share at the end of the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 to commemorate the change to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the 50th anniversary of our founding. 
As a result, the dividend per share for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 is planned to be 80 yen, including the ordinary dividend of 60 yen.