During the consolidated fiscal year under review, the global economy remained uncertain due to factors such as policy developments in the United States and heightened tensions in the Middle East; however, it continued on a gradual recovery trend.
In Japan, both the number of new housing construction starts and the floor area of non-residential building starts in markets related to the Group’s Industrial Equipment segment showed a declining trend. In the United States, housing construction starts showed a modest recovery in the most recent period; however, overall conditions remained sluggish, mainly due to persistently high mortgage interest rates and rising material prices. By contrast, construction investment in the non-residential market, mainly in infrastructure-related projects, remained steady. In Europe, the economic recovery continued, and the construction market also continued to show improvement, as seen in developments such as increased infrastructure investment in Germany.

Under such circumstances, net sales increased 8.5% from the previous fiscal year to ¥99,607 million, and operating profit increased 21.4% from the previous fiscal year to ¥17,571 million. Ordinary profit increased 24.1% from the previous fiscal year to ¥18,382 million, and profit attributable to owners of parent also increased 23.8% from the previous fiscal year to ¥13,891 million.

The business environment surrounding our group has become increasingly uncertain regarding the outlook, due to such factors as U.S. policy trends, the prolonged situation in Ukraine, and rising tensions in the Middle East.
For the next fiscal year, we plan net sales of ¥105,500 million (an increase of 5.9% from the previous corresponding period), operating profit of ¥18,800 million (an increase of 7.0% from the previous corresponding period), operating margin 17.8%.