Investor Relations / Management InformationMessage from the President and CEO

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our shareholders and investors for your continued support.

For the consolidated fiscal year ended March 2024, although it was affected by the sluggish demand in the electronic device market, sales revenue increased due to the expansion of supply capacity and price adjustment of acetate tow for filters, the increase in sales volume of airbag inflators in the safety business, the effect of exchange rates, etc. Operating income also increased due to factors such as the increase in sales, the decline in raw material and fuel prices, and the accumulation of cost reductions.

Regarding shareholder returns for the fiscal year ended March 2024, as announced in the interim period, the final dividend for the fiscal year under review is 25 yen per share, and the annual dividend is 50 yen per share, including the interim dividend of 25 yen, an increase of 12 yen from the previous fiscal year. In addition, from November 2023 to March 2024, we acquired approximately 10.14 million treasury shares for approximately 15 billion yen. As a result, the total return ratio for the fiscal year under review was 52.0%.

In addition, we have decided to change our shareholder return policy from the fiscal year ending March 2025 to clarify our stance of providing stable dividends, and we have introduced a new indicator, DOE (dividend on equity), in addition to the total return ratio. With regard to dividends, we will aim for a DOE of 4% or more, and will continue to aim for a shareholder return ratio of 40% or more each fiscal year, combining dividends and flexible share buybacks.

Regarding our business forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2025, we will expand sales by taking advantage of the expected recovery in demand in the electronic materials field in the second half of the year and increase sales volume in the engineering plastics business by increasing production volume at a newly operating plant. We will also work to increase production in India in the safety business and promote further structural reforms, aiming to increase sales and profits across the entire group.

Through our Mid-Term Management Strategy “Accelerate 2025,” we are working to implement our Long-Term Vision for realizing a circular society. In the first half of the Mid-Term Management Strategy, we focused on structural reforms, such as withdrawal from unprofitable businesses, consolidation of production sites, and review of joint ventures. Taking into account the progress of each individual strategy and the changes in the environment since the initial formulation, we have updated our Mid-Term Management Strategy for fiscal year 2023. To achieve this, this year we will strengthen "safety, quality, and compliance" as the most important foundations of our business management and set up a "Virtual Value Chain Control Center (VVCC)" at the Aboshi Plant, a safe and optimal manufacturing center that will monitor these and ensure not only the traditional safety, quality, delivery date/volume, and cost, but also the environment and materiality. In addition, we will divide new businesses into short-term themes to quickly monetize them, and medium- to long-term themes to steadily establish innovative common technology platforms that will become our new revenue base. For short-term themes, we will have a task force that has been switched from the conventional project structure to the selected specialists to quickly monetize them, and for medium- to long-term themes, we will have a task force dedicated to establishing a revenue base to develop future growth fields. Our financial strategy involves management that is mindful of balance sheet control and cash allocation, and will involve flexible review of cash allocation, improving capital efficiency as well as profitability, in order to further increase our corporate value.

The Daicel Group will continue to provide valuable products and improve its business performance through these products, and at the same time, contribute to the establishment of a circular society by building a new co-creation mechanism with various companies and organizations. I would like to ask for the continued guidance and support of our shareholders and investors.

June 2024

Long-Term Vision Mid-Term Management Strategy