Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (2802) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for taking your precious time to attend Ajinomoto's 2021 first half results presentation. Thank you very much indeed. My name is Kaji of the IR group. I am serving as your MC today. Today's participants are representative Executive Officer, President and CEO, Mr. Nishii; Representative and Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, Mr. Fukushi; Executive Officer and Senior Vice President, Mr. Kurashima; Executive Officer and Senior Vice President, Mr. Fujie; Executive Officer and Vice President, Mr. Bompas; Corporate Senior Executive, Mr. Kurosaki; Executive Officer and Vice President, Mr. Nakano; and Corporate Executive, Mr. [ Mizutani ]. These 8 people are present from Ajinomoto. There are non-Japanese officers as well. So when Mr. Bompas makes a presentation or statement, translation will be provided simultaneously. We expect to finish this meeting in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. The documents to be used for today's meeting are available on the IR information side of Ajinomoto's homepage. Please take a look at them as adequate. Please make sure that today's session is recorded all the way to the Q&A session, which will be posted on the IR side of the company later on. Now without further ado, we would like to begin. We would like to begin the presentation on the Ajinomoto's forecast for fiscal 2021 and initiatives for the structural reform phase of the medium-term management plan.

[Interpreted] Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for attending despite your busy schedule. Now without further ado, I would like to begin my presentation. The next page, please. This is today's agenda. As you can see there, I will talk about the summary results for the first half ended September 30, and talk about the corporate value enhancement cycle and the progress on the medium-term management plan priority themes. Next page. First of all, regarding the full year forecast, there are 4 points that I would like to convey to you. First of all, the full year forecast for fiscal '21 is forecasted to increase both in terms of sales and profit. We made an upward revision for the full year. Health care and others, the electronic materials, amino acids business and biopharma services businesses were quite strong, driving the group-wide performance. Sustained growth is expected from the next fiscal year onwards as well. Number three, for seasonings and food sales, due to the marketing activities capturing the new norm, we have been able to achieve growth. However, due to a raw material fuel cost increase, we are expecting a profit decrease. However, when it comes to frozen food, we will absorb the increase of cost through price increases. And for Food business overall, we will take countermeasures steadily against the cost increase so that we can improve the profitability from next fiscal year onwards. Next page, please. Now I would like to talk about the details pertaining to the first half results and the full year forecast. This -- the largest of the first half results, 6 points there. Medium term, we have achieved an increase of JPY 7.3 billion in profit and a sales increase of JPY 38.8 billion due to the strategic use of marketing expense. In all segments, we are expecting an organic growth. For business gross profit, Health care is driving the total company performance. So we made an upward revision of the full year forecast from JPY 115 billion to now JPY 120 billion. ROIC is expected to be JPY 7.6 billion -- 7.6% and making good progress towards our medium-term target. For operating cash flow, at the same level of last year, i.e., JPY 163 billion is projected. The 3-year plan of JPY 400 billion for fiscal '22 -- '20 to '22, we are making a steady progress outpacing that forecast. And therefore, the shareholder returns, we have -- in addition to the share repurchase that are currently in progress, we have decided to increase our dividend for the near half year term. For the full year dividends, we have decided to make an upward revision from previously JPY 44 to currently JPY 48 per share. Next page, please. This is the summary for the first half. From Q1 to Q2, the step-up from the revenue decline last year due to COVID-19 has stabilized, and we have achieved a 7% increase in sales and the profit was 11% higher compared to last year. Overseas seasonings and overseas frozen food, health care, biopharma ingredients and functional materials, those businesses drove the overall growth and resulted in an increase in sales. Business profit, seasonings and food and also and the frozen food decreased their profits by health care made a significant increase in profit, and therefore, the overall company achieved an increase as well. This is the waterfall chart increase explaining the changes in the profit. The gross profit increased by JPY 15 billion due to sales growth, out of which JPY 4.8 billion comes from the unit price increase from consumer foods overseas and also product mix. The GP improvement is based on the product business mix driven by the electronic materials. SG&A increased by JPY 9 billion. But because we wanted to increase the marketing spend as planned by JPY 30 billion -- JPY 3 billion for the major food and seasoning business in order to recover the market share that we dropped last year. And also, the strategic investment for business transformation and new businesses as planned was increased by JPY 3 billion. And also, on the other hand, the logistic cost increased by more than JPY 3 billion compared to initial projection due to the increase in the freight. Next page. The business profit growth by segment is explained here. For seasoning food, up 7% compared to last year in terms of sales due to the brisk home product for overseas and also the restaurant professional products recovered last -- from last year. On the other hand, business profit declined, this came down by JPY 2 billion compared to last fiscal year because we made marketing reinforcement for home products and due to the cost increase from fuel and raw material. Frozen food increased by 7%. However, business profit decreased because we strengthened marketing in Japan. Also the cost increases in North America in various elements, therefore, it came down by JPY 1.6 billion compared to last year. Health care because animal nutrition and due to the impact of structural reform, we sold off this asset in April -- this European asset in April. And despite this negative impact on sales from that, we have been able to achieve an increase of 10% year-on-year. Biopharma ingredients and functional materials recorded a significant increase in sales and accordingly, business profit also achieved a significant increase, up JPY 10.9 billion compared to last fiscal year, driven by increased sales. Next page, I think all of you -- in addition to COVID-19 due to irregular factors, the raw material prices has surged this year. And I think you are concerned about how this will impact our performance this year and next year and whether we can make a return or recovery in the food business, I think that is your concern. And the fermentation raw material is going to be impacted most by the raw material prices and the fuel costs will have a significant impact on packaging and logistics. The fuel cost is the highest in the last 10 years, close to the 2011 level. And I think this is continuing to plateau into the next fiscal year. We'll continue to keep an eye on the trends of the raw material and fuel cost and try to take adequate measures to counter them. This shows, on the upper side of the graph, this is the rated average of the raw material prices for the fermentation including the sub materials and the basic years 2011, which is represented as 100 there. And then if you look at the recent performance compared to the reference year of 2011, it has risen by 1.5x from 60% to 90%. This is a rapid surge. And -- but the level is comparable to 2011, 2012. And although this is not written in the graph, the oil price in 2011 was $110 or $120 that level, 20% higher than in 2011. And in fiscal 2011, the -- compared to fiscal 2011, the seasoning and food business profit is 1.686x. And fiscal '11, excluding the cost, common expenses has improved by 3.2% in our fiscal 2021 forecast. So if you look at the last 10 years, we have made progress in improving the unit price and also -- by also breaking away from the commodity bulk businesses, and we transformed ourselves into a structure that is strong against the surge of raw material prices. Going into fiscal '22 and Q2, we will take necessary measures for our product mix and price increase of raw materials so that we can make a recovery. As what's announced in the current MTP, let me revisit the asset-light approach under the MTP for MSG towards the end of 2022. We will reduce the external sales of this business to raise the percentage of consumer products percentage topping 80% to be more flexible on the price adjustment side. And by expanding the lowest resource-based fermentation technology, we will further drive the cost reduction efforts so that we can offset the surging fuel and material prices. Previously -- well, this slide shows the evolution of group-wide BP as well as BP margin trend. Between 2015 and 2018, commoditization of bulk business, including feed-use amino acids as well as major economic slowdown, the BP growth stalled temporarily. Starting from 2019, we accelerated the MTP to drive structural reform and enhanced the revenue structure. In 2021, we saw significant profit growth to lead the entire company. Towards 2022, in order to address COVID-19 and the surging fuel and raw material prices, we'll take necessary measures. And in the midterm, we will invest on brands, HR as well DX and other intangible assets so that we can promote the current MTP as well as achieve the numerical targets. In your material, at the very end, appendix includes the evolution by segment for your reference. Next slide, please. We revised the 2021 forecast -- full year forecast upward, and let me provide you with the detail. Year-on-year, sales will be up 7% or JPY 76.7 billion and business profit will be up JPY 7 billion or 6%. For the second quarter, sales is JPY 31.7 billion or 5.6% of business profit will be down, JPY 500 million. Let me provide you the details of it. Regarding the increase with sales or revenue increase, that level is on par with the first half. But we will take necessary marketing measures along with the initial plan, and that will be enhanced in the second half in order to make sure the price hikes will penetrate well, and we take necessary measures to grow after 2022 and onwards. And during phase 2 of the current MTP, we will invest the same amount into new business and new business model transformation so that we enhance the growth foundation for phase 2 in MTP. But if you take the second half alone, the stronger impact will be held because of the surging logistics fees, but we are taking measures in place to offset the impact next year and onwards. This waterfall chart indicates the factors behind BP changes for 2021. The gross profit increase was JPY 30.5 billion. And of that, JPY 11 billion was due to product mix as well as price increase for international consumer foods. And the cost increase was minus JPY 5.5 billion or JPY 3.7 billion higher than the initial forecast. And this includes the ForEx impact of JPY 2.6 billion. Regarding SG&A, that will be up JPY 25.5 billion than last year or JPY 22.1 billion than the initial forecast. The reason behind this was the logistic cost up by JPY 8 billion than last year and JPY 5 billion than the initial plan, but everything else remains the same. Marketing investments as well as new business model investments will be made to enhance our -- to address our further growth after last -- next year. This shows the forecast in BP changes by segment for your confirmation. Next slide, please. Total assets for fiscal '21, asset-wide approach is making progress. And versus last year, the total of JPY 110 billion -- excuse me, JPY 11 billion was reduced asset-wise, and we have repaid the borrowing and net P/E ratio will be around 40%. Next slide, please. Regarding the operating cash flow during 2021 were cashed in from operating activities, that will be amounting to JPY 163 billion. And after 2020, we have shifted towards a structure from our core businesses, generating better cash generatability. And during the phase 1 of the current MTP, we are certain to meet the target of more than JPY 400 billion. And this slide shows a strategic investment. As the bar indicates, the CapEx in 2021, we increased the production level overseas and the realignment of domestic food production will be completed and it's subsiding. However, this is perfectly in line with the MTP. Up until 2022, I will mention the details in topics -- under topics, but we will accelerate the growth investments towards the electronics materials on an accelerated basis. So the CapEx will slightly increase during this period. But the bar indicates the investments in intangible assets, such as R&D, brand and DX and business brand development as well as HR investments. They are in line with the MTP. Next slide, please. This slide shows the major KPIs. And they are all looking very promising. Next slide, please. This slide shows our shareholders' return. Under the current MTP, our policy states total shareholder return of more than 50% in the last -- in 3 years and 40% in dividend payout ratio for each year. So our policy is to pay out stable dividends. In line with that policy, we will carry out the dividend payouts during this year. There is a solid progress in cash and therefore, stock repurchases, combined with dividend increase is scheduled in the first half, JPY 24 per share and full year JPY 40 per share, up JPY 6 than last year is expected. From here, we'll talk about the core of our ASP management, which is the corporate value enhancement cycle centered on employee engagement. I will talk about the progress of our activities. First here, this is the progress of the priority KPI, which represents the stages of our corporate value. In fiscal '21, as you can see at the table, financial indicators, ROIC organic growth rate, overseas consumer food unit price growth. Those are all performing higher than our initial projection and making good progress towards our medium-term targets. One of the nonfinancial indicator for the future is the engagement score of our employees. The preliminary results have become available recently, and it shows a slight decline. I'll come back to this topic later. The other nonfinancial indicator is the brand value and the current survey is conducted. The results will be made available, I think, sometime in February. We paused back to you at that timing. This is the priority KPI forecast for March 2022 by segment. I'll come back to this topic later, but I think all of these are making good progress. Next page, please. And this shows the vision for 2030 in our ASV management, which says that we contribute to greater wellness for people worldwide, unlocking the power of amino acids to resolve food and health issues. And this means by 2030, we will extend the healthy life expectancy of 1 billion people. And at the same time, reduced the environment impact by 50%. But thereby, we would like to improve the social value and economic value. Those are the activities that we are currently undertaking. This is also the corporate value cycle enhancement. For this, we would like to direct the customers' -- employee engagement to co-create the customer experience so that this could increase the economic value, and that economic value will be pulled back to the investors. And if the investors are in -- endorsement becomes higher, that will further motivate the engagement of the employees. We would like to run this positive cycle, and that's what we call the corporate value. The corporate value enhancement cycle is -- this shows the relation between the strategy and the KPI that runs this cycle. And the Board of Directors and the management that leads the cycle provides the incentives for the realization of the purpose and vision such as remuneration growth opportunities and total rewards such as employee engagement. And these 2 are connected by trust and empathy. Employees will execute the strategy to co-create the customer experience, together with partners such as suppliers. And of course, the nutrition without compromise are the detailed activities or the concrete activities of such undertakings. And at that point, the value add -- additional value will be available to customers that will lead to unit price increase and also that will result in economic value. That will be pulled back to the hands of shareholders. And then the evaluation and investments by shareholders and investors will incentivize the management and lead to the total reward of employees. We would like to employ measures that will run this cycle. So the ASV value creation cycle that is starting from the intangible assets is one of the most important items of the deliberations of the Board of Directors. Now I'd like to talk about the engagement status of the employees. These are the preliminary numbers as of November 1, and we have not yet been able to complete a detailed analysis. The sustainable employment engagement score for 2021 was 86%. For 2 years in a row, we were top -- we maintain a top class level among the global excellent companies of all industries. But what we attach importance ourselves is the ASV as one initiative, meaning that they are able to talk about their activities to their families and friends that are -- that they are taking these kind of initiatives to achieve ASV. But this core was 61%, somewhat lower compared to last fiscal year. We believe the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic may have restricted their activities and have impacted the scores. But I think when it comes to health and productivity in score, which shows the confidence in the company, that was 81%. So we maintained a very high level continuing from last year. So we will analyze issues and take proper measures immediately. One of the key items and factors of our medium-term plan is the investment in human resources. And I would like to give you some updates regarding our DX talent development. The number of trainees receiving the DX training exceeded 1,300 people in fiscal 2021. And combined with last year, all -- half of our total employee base have received the training. And those employees who are aiming to become data scientists to receive the advanced certification has now risen to 88%. And we believe these people will lead the DX transformation of the company. From here, I would like to talk about the priority themes of our medium-term plan and the progress of such activities. I will talk about these 4 items. On those 4 main topics, in light of the corporate value enhancement, this graph -- this slide indicates the portions highlighted in red circles, ROIC improvement, organic growth as well as business model transformation and sustainability, which is not included in the slide. Starting from structural reform or asset-light approach. In 2021, please look at the bar indicated for 2021. Versus the initial plan, the business asset reduction amounting to JPY 42 billion, up JPY 5 billion than the initial plan. And resource allocation will top JPY 15 billion, up JPY 2 billion from the initial plan. So resulting in a total of JPY 7 billion above the plan. Next slide, please. Asset-light approach for business assets, those are the major topics. There are 4 major topics. Number one, with Animal Nutrition. In addition to the North American downsizing in terms of quantity, the sales of the European entity was completed in April. Through this, JPY 15.5 billion asset reduction was completed, and this completed the cycle of structural reform from Animal Nutrition. Number two, with MSG, external sales reduction is underway. Number three, Frozen Foods. Starting from North America and Asian food production is being shifted as planned and idle assets partly are being reduced. In Japan, currently, unprofitable industrial use products are downsizing in terms of their sales. Through these efforts, upon completion after next year, asset-light initiative is being prepared. Number four, for domestic coffee in Japan, we withdrew from the unprofitable liquid coffee business as was announced, and we out-licensed to a major beverage company. With this, inventory asset will be able to reduce. Next slide, please. In order to address the organic growth of Food business, let me outline the nutrition without compromise. Starting from 2020, under the concept of nutrition without concept (sic) [ compromise ] we integrated this -- incorporated this into our corporate brand communication and also launched an integrated marketing to create synergy with main brands. What does it mean by the concept? Well, we contribute to local food cultures as well as deliciousness and food -- affordable food access. Without compromising all these aspects, we promote health and nutrition aspects of products. And we'd like to incorporate this into our products as well as marketing efforts and product communications. As I mentioned earlier -- well, the measures for nutrition without compromise, the key here is Smart Salt as was previously announced. And investors asked, there are many lots of products in Japan, that's true. But Ajinomoto is strong. Ajinomoto is strong in Asian countries, but consciousness of low salt may be lower in those countries than in Japan. That was the point raised by the investors previously. And in answer to that question, we conducted our survey in the ASEAN countries as well as Latin America. And to our surprise, more than 70% of consumers are already incorporating or working on low-salt initiatives in their daily diet. And this was much higher than initially expected. Next, consumers are already cutting down on the usage of salt or seasonings and they refrain from consuming processed foods that seemingly containing high salt. But the reason they cited, 80% of them, responders cited that those low-salt products are not delicious, recipe is limited and salt content is unknown or low-salt products are enabled to be found in the market. Those are the reasons why they are not being able to address salt intake. So as -- and the Latin American consumers have highly conscious of low salt. However, the -- however, they don't last very long. Ajinomoto started to take low-salt initiatives starting from Iwate and other parts of Japan. And this delicious low salt strategy may be applicable to major countries in overseas. And this survey dovetails with our expectation. Next slide, please. Starting from July last year, we have been promoting marketing measures, Smart Salt in 7 major countries to promote Smart Salt. Upper panel shows the advertisements being used to motivate low salt to trigger cooking opportunities and promote cooking -- promote the deliciousness in their experience at the store -- the physical stores. Currently, under these initiatives, in 2020, including ones that are launched in 2020, 15 brands of low-salt products are being available. Going forward, these will contribute to the organic growth. Next slide, please. This shows the business model transformation, especially on the Electronics Material business. Semiconductor manufacturers or our customers, in our negotiation, in terms of the demand level. Reflecting those customers' demand forecast, we revised upward the CAGR growth to 15% up until 2024. And this will amount to JPY 18 billion. And based on this, we decided to accelerate ABF CapEx amounting to JPY 18 billion in the MTP in 2022. Stockyards will be increased to accommodate production ramp-up at existing facilities. And after 2023, for further production ramp-up, details of CapEx are being studied internally. After 2024, ABF stable growth will be ensured by meeting customers' demand. Next slide, please. These are the topics on S&I. As you are aware, in food markets, trends on salt reduction, low sugar and alternative meats are evident. To meet strong demands from food manufacturers -- food processing manufacturers, we've been developing Kokumi substance that was launched in December -- excuse me, in November, that is compatible with green label. And the application of usage will be also -- apps will also be offered. Within the white line, cost reduction was enabled by the deliciousness design technology. This will be rolled out not only to the major customers, but also to cultivate a new venture customers. And we would like to form a next-generation pillar under S&I business after the enzyme formulation, especially from Western consumers, they are who are highly conscious of deliciousness and cost reduction. They demanded highly of green label shift. So 3.5x growth is expected. That is our target compared to 2010. Next slide, please. This shows the sustainability measures to extend healthy life span for 1 billion, this is the road map. And the details was announced on September 29, so let me abbreviate the explanation at this forum. For those of you who are not familiar, please refer to our IR website for the videos that is archived on the site. And regarding our commitment towards healthy lifespan extension for 1 billion, I have a new -- something new to announce. As to how to create a new ecosystem, as you are aware, UN Food Systems Summit was held in September. And during the pre-session I attended, and in line with that, Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit will be scheduled in December. And at that forum, we will announce our -- we will -- in collaboration with external bodies, including GAIN and CGF, we will further declare our nutrition without compromise engagement. WHO expressed a high interest in this topic. In order to prevent hypertension, Umami-based delicious low salt is gaining attention. Nutrition for Growth at the summit, Japan Nutrition incorporates Umami-based low salt as a key topic of their proposal. And on that occasion, there's a Netherlands-based ATNI assessment agency, and we are lobbying with the -- towards this entity so that they can stipulate rules based on local food cultures. And this shows our expansion or adoption of our marketing efforts of -- through our engagement. And we hope that we can further promote our marketing activities through CX so that we can enhance our brand equity to lead to business growth. Next slide, please. This shows the 50% reduction on environment impact as well as sustainability plan. Details were announced on September 29. So let me abbreviate the details but -- at this forum. But for those of you who aren't familiar, please refer to the IR website for the details. And this is my last message as a CEO -- excuse me, this is the last slide I have today. We seize the opportunity of the new normal during the pandemic to enhance growth potential in core businesses through engagement in health and environment by trading on resource inflation as well as sustainability cost impacts. We aim to become a food and health problem-solving company by -- with a system to unleash HR potential through digital transformation. Without losing momentum for our transformation, we remain committed to ASV management, and we'd like to solicit your continued support. With that, I'd like to conclude my remarks. Thank you very much.

[Interpreted] Mr. Nishii, thank you very much. Now we would like to move on to the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that we may not be able to accommodate all the questions if there are too many questions for that time. Now we would like to begin the Q&A session. Okay. The first question, this is from Nomura Securities, Fujiwara-san.

[Interpreted] This is Fujiwara. Asset light, I think you are making good progress there, and I have a great impression that you are back on the recovery track or the growth track. If you look at Page 23, regarding the important priority KPIs, ROIC, the question that I have is that for seasoning and food and frozen food in particular, I have a question. Up until now, when it comes to seasoning and food, ROIC was 12% and frozen food was 1% and then the progress towards the 2025 is just 5%. So I think you have to further accelerate your efforts in this area. So in terms of ROIC, how to improve your profit margin and how to improve your ROIC improvement, especially in the seasonings and food business and also the food -- frozen food business, how are you going to improve your capital or asset efficiency? Can you elaborate on that point?

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Mr. Fujiwara. Regarding seasoning and food, I will talk about asset-light first. MSG external sales business is still remaining in this year. And therefore, that's the reason why ROIC is limited to 12% at this moment. For consumer foods, the seasonings and quick nourishment, I think ROIC has already been achieved. So we will continue to work on the unit price growth and execute them and further improve the ROIC. That's the approach. For solution and ingredients, the fiscal 2021 forecast contain some details. But I think we have not been able to translate the price increase yet to our results. But I think we shall be able to do that through the understanding of customers from next year onwards. And for fiscal '22, we will continue asset-light execution. And also, we'll talk about the specialty business for Kokumi seasoning. So through these efforts, we would like to improve the ROIC for seasonings and food. When it comes to frozen food, for fiscal 2021, we were able to achieve a number close to fiscal 2020 of 1%. Some factors here, as we have been reporting from before, the North American asset in the -- because we have decided to concentrate on the ASEAN countries so that while we can drive growth and improve the value and thereby improve the BP margin. Also, if you look at the next page, I have talked about the asset-light approach. But even in Japan, under Mr. Kurosaki's leadership, the loss-making professional business is now heading for a contraction. So for some time, we have focused on quantity expansion based on key accounts, but we are now reducing the size of this business through the understanding of customers in a phased approach. So once this is complete, all those production sites that are related to Japan, those will be subject to our asset-light activities. So by 2025, I think the WACC level of 5%, that comparable ROIC of 5% or so will definitely be achieved.

[Interpreted] A follow-up question. For the Frozen Food business in Japan for professionals, you are reducing the SKUs and also the closure of factories have been talked about. So that's going to be the case, right? So I think in coffee business, liquid coffee business because you have decided to transfer this to Suntory or through collaboration with Suntory. So as for beverage business, how do you position the beverage business? Can you once again talk about that?

[Interpreted] Yes, certainly. For frozen food, Mr. Kurosaki has already explained that. We will explain that in more detail. But as far as beverage, I would like to talk about beverage first. So within AGF, the home side liquid business, liquid beverages and the PET bottle size, actually in the early 1990s, AGF released this product and actually produced and developed the market. So Blendy was the brand in Japan, and they made a huge contribution to proliferate this brand in Japan. However, the 900-millimeter (sic) [ milliliter ] PET bottle sold at less than JPY 100, we thought that this Blendy brand -- this is not aligned with our Blendy brand strategy. So it's loss-making. It's not profitable. So I think we should leave it to the professionals who are professionalized in the beverage business. So that's the reason why we have decided to ask Suntory to sell this under a licensing agreement. So that's the reason why we made this decision. But on a continuing basis, the powder product and also the instant coffee products because Blendy is still our mainstay products, so we will continue to focus on this so that this business can continue to grow. So Mr. Kurosaki, can you follow up with the rest of the question?

[Interpreted] This is Kurosaki. Fujiwara-san, thank you very much for your question. As for SKUs, in Japan, the loss-making SKUs have been trimmed in Japan successfully, as it was just mentioned by Mr. Nishii. So the professional key accounts centered on them, we are focusing on these efforts and making progress so that we can improve the unit price and the GP margin. So we are making steadfast progress in reinforcing our business structure. And also for home products, the -- we are focusing on those high-end products that are profitable. So I think we are making good progress. And at the same time, the production strategy has been transformed as part of the business transformation reform and we focused on having our own assets and producing with our own assets, but we have decided to align with strategic partners also on the production front. And we are continuing with these efforts and making progress currently. So we will outsource our production, expand such outsourced production. And as part of that -- as a result of that, we will try to improve the asset efficiency. And your question regarding the domestic Japanese business or also the production in China or Asia to produce production -- products for the Japanese market. Is there a possibility to close those plants? That's taken into consideration and that we will not rule out the possibility. And -- but still, we are keeping -- making studies. We cannot disclose any details at this point, but I think you will look forward to our future developments.

[Interpreted] Next question is from Saji-san from Mizuho Securities.

[Interpreted] Pertaining to the initial message of Nishii-san, next year's rising fuel and raw material costs and how certain is it? Are you sure that you'll be able to offset the impact with price increase? Net JPY 5.5 billion cost increase by the year-end and gross JPY 15 billion to JPY 17 billion will be increased due to the fuel and raw material costs. But with the price increase, the total impact will be around JPY 55 billion, you mentioned. So next year, the raw material for fuels, JPY 16 billion against the JPY 17 billion. Are you expecting the same level next year for fuels and raw materials? And also on Page 47 of the material, you mentioned the price hike scheduled, including Brazil and Japan for industrial yields in other countries. But at this point in time, how much -- to what extent the offset effect will be taking place through these price hike measures? And above what percentage are certain to take place? And the remaining percentage-wise, could you provide more details on the quantitative, qualitative figures?

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for your question. So in terms of gross wide, the fuel and raw material cost increase, as Saji-san mentioned, the rough estimation was right. So with JPY 17 billion or -- excuse me, JPY 18 billion for the full year. And that includes JPY 8 billion in the first half and the JPY 10 billion in the second half. So for the next first half, JPY 2 billion -- may go up further by JPY 2 billion, if you compare the first half to -- versus this year as well as versus next year. And although I cannot disclose the details, but price increase will take place to ensure that we offset the impact of cost increase, and they will show positive effects next year. That is our calculation.

[Interpreted] So JPY 22 billion may have a negative impact in the first half next year. But because you will have a positive JPY 1 billion, so the net effect will be JPY 8 billion. And if the cost increases further, then you can increase the price even further. So there is a high certainty?

[Interpreted] Yes, JPY 17 billion to 80% -- JPY 80 billion and we are unable to offset the JPY 5 billion of that. But next year and onwards, we hope that we generate positive effects, and that is why we're increasing prices. In terms of the balance between first half and second half, second half saw a surge in the food raw material cost increase. But we will hope that the positive effects will be exerted by the price increase in that portion. But in other industries, you are increasing -- they are increasing prices. But starting from January, S&I industrial-used products will start to increase price.

[Interpreted] But users are exhausted with all this price increase. And can you ensure that the most price hike will be introduced to the market?

[Interpreted] It will take time, but well, as a result of long-term negotiation, we decided to introduce price hike from January. It's not all of a sudden, we hike price in January. After the result of the 6 months price negotiation with consumers or customers, the price hike is now scheduled after January next year.

[Interpreted] I understand. So in terms of the price increase impact, there is very minimal risk associated with the price hike.

[Interpreted] Yes, that's right. And well, you cited an example of S&I, but that's true for home use products as well as frozen foods under -- jurisdictions. After the sufficient price negotiation with the customers, we set the timing for price hike.

[Interpreted] The next question is from Goldman Sachs, Yamaguchi-san.

[Interpreted] This is Yamaguchi. Can you hear me okay?

[Interpreted] Yes, we hear you.

[Interpreted] Well, I have a question relating to health care and others. Now that you have given an update for ABF. On Page 37, I'm looking at Page 37, and this total JPY 18 billion production increase, if this is formally decided, the production capacity, I'm not really sure if the reference year should be 2014 or where, but what kind of capacity increase in terms of CAGR can be expected? That's my question. And also, because this is a great opportunity, I would also like to talk about the biopharma service and ingredients. And this time, you made an upward revision to the sales and the profit forecast. Can you elaborate on the reasons behind the upward revision?

[Interpreted] Thank you. All right. So Gwin Bompas, who is the Head of the division, will answer this.

This is Gwin Bompas, and thank you so much for your question, Yamaguchi-san. First of all, with your question, your first question relating to production capacity for our functional materials, as Nishii-san explained, we are currently looking at accelerating the actual capital expenditure plan. I reported back at this meeting just maybe 6 months ago that we had sufficient capacity. But we see the demand continuing to increase, and we've decided to accelerate that capacity. I remind you as well that last time I shared that we are currently only operating 1 shift operation, so we can easily expand our operation capacity. And then by putting in some additional capital in the 2023 aspect around about, and it's still on the study not to finalize, around about JPY 16 billion, we certainly would be able to take the actual capacity growth, which we are forecasting through to around about 2030. So this is, I think, more than sufficient to meet the expected market demand, which I'll say, has increased over this last period. Your second question was related to the biopharma services and ingredients business and the upward sales and profit revisions of this business. Putting this in context, 2020, last year, we actually struggled a bit with this business due to COVID situations, canceling of contracts. And we've managed to recover well this year. In fact, in the first half of this year, very strong performance, driven by, for example, culture media sales to some of our big pharmaceutical multinational companies for them to make COVID drugs. We've had a very strong first half performance through there. The fundamentals of the business remain strong. We see a strong demand -- ongoing demand for amino acids and also the CDMO business going forward. And we are also currently making investments in the CDMO business. We have our plants in India, which is under construction right now, our second plant, which will come on stream in the next calendar year. So we are very bullish about this area and it looks good for the future.

[Interpreted] Just one more follow-up for each of them. For ABF, by making this investment, from 2024 onwards, as the CAGR about 10%, is that -- do you think that can be secured as CAGR? Or you said that you're going to accelerate this investment plan. So this 15%, will that be maintained? Or are you expecting a higher number of CAGR? So can you elaborate on that point for ABF shipment volume? And also for biopharma this year, is it CDMO that is driving growth for this year? If that is the case, well, what are the actual products that are expanding? I think it was the -- this muscular disease. Is this actually the -- or is this also for the drugs -- indication drugs? So is this just that you will have to wait for the commercial production? Can you talk about the status of the actual product that is using your product, the end product?

Thank you for those follow-on questions, again, Yamaguchi-san. First of all, coming back to your questions about the ongoing demand. So we are expecting the demand to go to about 15% CAGR through to 2024 for our Functional Materials business. Past that, it's quite difficult to really forecast accurately, of course. Through there, we're expecting a slower growth rate than the period up to 2024, probably just into the double digits. But that will be, I think, sufficient in terms of taking care of going forward. As I said, we do have multiple sites in terms of manufacture, in terms of business continuity plans, and so we should be able to respond in time, should there be additional market needs. Maybe one interesting point for you as well is that it's not an Ajinomoto build-up from ABF, but it's also some of the other functional materials, magnetic paste, et cetera, that are starting to get traction in the marketplace as well. So we are well positioned there. Your question about what's driving the growth on the biopharmaceutical services and ingredients. The first half of this year, we had very strong sales of culture media into, as I said earlier, the major pharmaceutical players who are accelerating some of the COVID-related treatments. So this is one of the reasons why we actually had a very strong first half of this year. But to your question on the CDMO side of things, what is really the future looking like on CDMOs, our business is made up primarily of the small molecules today, and this is a very robust good portfolio of products focusing on multiple indications from oncology through to HIV and other infectious diseases. So we have a very stable portfolio there. But we have a growing portfolio based on our in-house AJIPHASE technology. And this AJIPHASE technology is particularly suited for the growth of oligonucleotides and we are seeing great traction by clients in terms of using this type of technology to make their future oligonucleotides. Oligonucleotide is a [indiscernible] of a new sector in the market, first drug's already approved in 2015. So it's a growing sector of the market, and we are well positioned to help our clients and their patients benefit from this technology. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Next question is from Takagi-san from SMBC Nikko Securities.

[Interpreted] This is Takagi speaking. My question are -- the number of questions is only one. So I'd like to address this to Nishii-san. You have faced some challenges. And when the market is highly fluid, but you have such a resistance -- high resistance and total reliability with this highly fluctuating situation, cost inflation is your significant risk. That's true. However, outside that, apart from that, is there any other management concerns or risks in terms of -- for the company management, what are your concerns? And what are the possible measures? There are very positive signs throughout the materials, but I am still concerned about other aspects of management risks.

[Interpreted] Well, towards 2022, business portfolio-wise, structural reform is underway, but the genuine structural reform is to change the corporate culture. That is yet to be launched fully. Well, we are only 2 years or 3 years into this effort. So it's not complete per se. And during the COVID and resource inflation, we need to make sure that all the time, we need to remain agile and flexible enough, and we need to have a robust structure in place to do so. That is very important. And digital transformation is key. So that we can enhance the productivity of our talents so that our employees can concentrate on decision-making aspects rather than spending too much time on the administrative side. So that involves transformation in our work style as well. Having said that though, well, we tend to actually miss the good old days. And some employees are certainly do so. And the transformation, of course, entails pain. So there may be resistance amongst the employees to drastically change their work styles, but we need to move forward even with the pain. So there is an internal risk associated with the transformation, and that is my concern as well.

[Interpreted] I understand. That makes sense.

[Interpreted] And in terms of how to address that risk, well, I showed you the cycle of corporate value enhancement earlier. And this slide indicates here, well, at the very end of the cycle is the shareholders' evaluation and investment. We need to make sure that this will be returned to the company and it's shared by the employees. We need to have -- we did a full circle completed, and that is missing link at this stage. And once we complete this cycle, we can converge the perspectives of shareholders with the employees' feelings or engagement. And that way we can address the internal risk in terms of changing the corporate culture, and we are taking measures accordingly.

[Interpreted] So this is a very abstract question -- abstract term to understand fully, but well, even with the pain -- well, transformation is underway. Even with the pain, even incurring pain to employees, are you suggesting that?

[Interpreted] Well, in terms of the asset-light approach, there is still a remaining homework to do. Going forward, we may not repeat the same cycle, but for example, organic growth or ROIC growth, we cannot be complacent with the current space. We would like to reach 13%. And the bar is setting high, keep setting high and higher and higher. So we need to repeat the cycle of structure before many times. And structural reform, of course, it entails the -- it entails certain pain, but the overall engagement must be higher for us to overcome the pain. So corporate culture change may not be easy, but we are fully committed to complete that.

[Interpreted] So to put it simply, in terms of the financial risk, or management risk. Apart from cost inflation, do you see any risks?

[Interpreted] Well, as the financial report said, and we have increased the level of the disclosure. And in terms of financial risks in the United States, long-term interest trend as is already indicated. If it goes to the higher end, then some companies may see rising risk of impairment loss. Well, this is not for certain, but we need to remain attentive to the situation.

[Interpreted] The next question, this is from UBS Securities, Kawasaki-san, the floor is yours.

[Interpreted] This is Kawasaki from UBS. Okay. Let me begin my question. I would like to ask about your asset-light strategy. This is Page 32, Page 33 of the presentation and also on Page 11. So I will cover these 3 slides when I ask this question. So for asset-light, this year, from JPY 50 billion to JPY 52 billion, you made a revision of this number. And this asset-light, up to 2025. Is this a net increase or is this a cumulative progress? Or is it because this upfront -- front-loaded parties came in earlier than expected and resulted in this fiscal year? So can you talk about the overall progress of asset light? And also on Page 11, regarding the Umami, as part of asset light in -- from fiscal 2019, you have presented the progress thereafter. But after the contraction of the external sales as the impact and the result of asset light is going to be manifested itself since -- from next fiscal year onwards. Can you elaborate on these points?

[Interpreted] Well, first of all, on Page 32, if you look at -- if you go back to that table on Page 32, JPY 50 billion to JPY 57 billion. Actually, in fiscal '22 was the initial target year, but then in actual numbers, those have been reflected. So those are the actual -- the number that is actually reflected. That's how you should interpret this. So this JPY 50 billion, those numbers outside this box from 2023 to 2025, the ROIC level is 8% at the corporate-wide level. So it has improved to 8%. So we are now aiming for 10% to 11% thereafter. So there might be new themes that we have to address as we go for 10% to 11%. But these initiatives have been taken and employed earlier than the schedule. So JPY 50 billion up until 2025 and JPY 100 billion or so up until 2025, that was the initial plan. But once things became clear, we have decided to increase the amount. So that's the reality. So then if you look at Page 33, the priority items of the structural reform. If you look at items number 1, 2, 3 , those are the key initiatives. But other than that, there are also some other themes in our priority areas, and these are manifesting itself in terms of actual contribution. And we talked about the Umami seasonings. And if you go back to that graph, so this is -- includes a number inclusive in this -- in this overall number. So this is the composition. If all these asset light is materialized, and this will be the composition once that's materialized.

[Interpreted] Okay. I understood. So if that is the case, the fiscal '22 asset light, this is about next year. So asset light next year, the amount of asset light is not going to come down significantly compared to this year. So next fiscal year as well, sizable asset-light impact is expected to emerge next year. Is that correct?

[Interpreted] Yes, that's correct. Yes. You should think it that way.

[Interpreted] Okay. Understood. So then this Umami seasoning for processing, that asset-light impact will also be quite sizable? Is that a good assessment?

[Interpreted] Yes, not so significant as Animal Nutrition. But of course, a considerable size should be there next year.

[Interpreted] Next question is from Morita-san from Daiwa Securities.

[Interpreted] This is Morita speaking from Daiwa Securities. In terms of the next growth driver, nutrition-based growth driver, going forward. ATNI evaluation stated that 6% are nutritiously valuable. That's quite low. But please, your message was not by product, but by menu. That was your message. In terms of Ajinomoto's nutrition profiling system, what is the competition that is conducive to the nutrition value in terms of all SKUs? And towards 2030, you aim to raise the ratio to 60% by 2030, menu-based nutrition profiling system. Are you referring to 60% in this ANPS system? Could you clarify that? And also regarding the nutrition profiling model, how are you applying to product development? I understand that approach. However, in terms of marketing-wise, is it already linked to -- tied into the marketing strategies? That will be changing based on your profiling system? Or is it already changing? What is the timing of that? And my last question pertains to the Nutrition Summit that is scheduled in December in Tokyo. And regarding the nutrition in Japan and ASEAN countries, what is the institution-wise change? Is there any government subsidies, especially in Australia, in Western countries, laboring system is being introduced for the easier adoption of this. But what are the situations in Japan and the Southeast Asia, is the environment changing?

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for the questions, Morita-san. Yes. So there are 3 questions, I understand. Regarding the first question, ANTI, as well as the menu-specific nutrition value. And number three, ASEAN, this institution situation in Japan and ASEAN countries, I will address those 2. And the second question will be addressed by Fujie-san, who is responsible for food business. So to answer -- in answer to your question, regarding the 60% figure, that includes ANPS menu -- that excludes ANPS menu based. So we are counting by product, ANPS scoring system is the basis. And 40% of products already improved, and that ratio will be raised to 60%. That is our objective. And in terms of menu-specific nutrition value, as Morita had mentioned, product development will take place. And also authorization is needed to evaluate the nutrition value menu specifically. Therefore, that effort will be added on top of the 60%. And then in terms of assessment, ATNI is one of the scope of the assessment, and we are lobbying to the adoption of the system. And to address your third question, in Japan and ASEAN countries, institution-wise, whether this can be institutionalized into a formal policy. In Japan, well, there's a huge system being deployed whether to extend healthy life span, to what extent the high salt intake is exacerbating the life healthy (sic) [ healthy life ] span. And that is well carefully examined by the academia, and we can cite those evidence to promote our approach. But in Europe, whether Europe is already institutionalizing this, but the Japanese style may not be formally adopting this into a system. So maybe doctors' association or research institution and private companies or NGOs, through these external bodies, we'd like to penetrate this through a soft-type approach, rather than formalizing this into a concrete institution. In Asia, well, the official support from government will not be reached, however. In terms of salt excessive intake, well, as consumer data indicated earlier, this is a very serious issue opposed to ASEAN countries, they are becoming aware. So without knowing the details of method, they are quite willing, the government is quite willing to take approach to address the matter. That is my impression. But we need to start building a new ecosystem with which we would like to be involved. Fujie-san, could you address the second question regarding the link towards the marketing efforts?

[Interpreted] Thank you, Morita-san for your question. Speaking of our marketing measures or marketing strategy, to address this food and health-related issues, in nutrition, this is at the core -- our approach is at the core of our marketing efforts and these initiatives are already underway. As Nishii-san pointed out on Page 34, nutrition without compromise and low salt as well as protein -- high protein intake, those are the aspects that are incorporated in our marketing efforts and not only in Japan but overseas, Smart Salt initiatives are underway. Or love vegetable is another key message that we are delivering to overseas customers. And we are creating a certain template in Southeast Asia as well as in Brazil. By building these good practice in those overseas markets, we'd like to create a template that is applicable to elsewhere so that we can adopt this worldwide and further evolve our marketing efforts going forward. And then through DX, by deploying DX further, under the DX Promotion Council or committee, marketing subcommittee was established, and we are linking all these efforts to create a horizontal -- excuse me, vertical -- horizontal and vertical access to create a huge matrix for the marketing efforts group-wide. Thank you very much for your question. I hope that answered your question.

[Interpreted] Speaking of ANPS scoring system linked to the marketing efforts. So you already established this linkage? Or are you -- is it under way?

[Interpreted] Well, product is already linked -- tied into the marketing efforts. And especially on the menu side, not only in Japan, but overseas, how to adopt this menu-wise is being -- the preparation is underway, including some pilot cases. So that is the situation.

[Interpreted] And let me ask additional question. Regarding low-salt products, contributing -- included in the healthy products. But what are the other products that will be categorized as healthy products apart from low-salt products? And also are there any items that are -- that fall outside these healthy products? What are the specific names of the products? It is very hard to clarify what's healthy and what's not quantitatively so it is very hard to come up with the specific product brands, brand names. Could you clarify that? Elaborate a little bit?

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for your question. Within ANPS scoring system, nutritiously valuable fibers as well as vitamins and protein. The content of those elements are being measured. And also excessive intake of fatty acids, saturated fatty acids and salt, which was detrimental to the health, all products are being measured against these measurement items. So products in terms of containing high amounts of these and products containing high amount of bad ones, we can classify that. I cannot disclose the details at this point in time. However, we can measure positive aspects and some of the negative aspects of our products. We digitalized those data and then incorporate the message into our promotion activities going forward.

[Interpreted] The next question is from JPMorgan, Yoshida-san.

[Interpreted] This is Yoshida from JPMorgan Securities. Can you hear me?

[Interpreted] Yes, we hear you.

[Interpreted] I also -- I have a question related to asset light. Regarding your capital expenditure, I would like to confirm about your philosophy for CapEx. Solution and ingredients, there are areas for further asset-light -- asset elimination. Also for Electronic Materials, JPY 57 billion capital expenditure increase is expected. And also for CDMO, CapEx is also, I think, an important theme for your plan in the future. So going into after 2023, when the nucleotide business increases, are there other areas where CapEx increase is expected beyond 2023?

[Interpreted] Right now, up until 2022, in the 3-year period, for CapEx -- JPY 210 billion for CapEx and JPY 70 billion of capital expenditure has already been done. In addition to that, from 2023 onwards, for growth investment, there will be a significant increase in some areas, but the details, concrete areas have not been planned. We haven't finalized the plan for them yet. But from 2023 onwards, we are sure that there are some initiatives that are necessary, especially in relation to sustainability because greenhouse gas and energy-related areas, these areas require -- because we are going to disclose the TCFD disclosures. And also for the 50% environment impact reduction towards 2020 for the future, all these efforts that were separate previously, by doing the sustainability investments, the value of our product and business will be enhanced. That is our strategy. So we would like to link the sustainability initiatives towards these corporate targets. So we are currently starting those simulations. And for the existing businesses, I don't think we are expecting a significant increase in the period between 2023 and 2025 at the moment.

[Interpreted] I got it. Certainly, your company, the fermentation raw material has, for many years, COP3 and also the emission, I think, will apply to you quite significantly. But as for the future CapEx amount, what is the size of CapEx that we have to anticipate?

[Interpreted] I'm so sorry, we haven't been able to complete that calculation. Definitely, we will calculate these numbers and share with you at some point of time.

[Interpreted] Next question is from Tsunoyama-san from Mitsubishi Morgan Stanley -- excuse me, Morgan Stanley Securities.

[Interpreted] Yes, this is Tsunoyama speaking. Do you hear me all right?

[Interpreted] Yes.

[Interpreted] I'd like to ask one question. On low salt business, on Page 35 as well as 36. As Fujie-san indicated earlier, good practices being built to be applied worldwide. I hope that if you could expound on that item. And also for the short-term view, how does that impact the price increase of amounting to JPY 11 billion this year? And also next year and onwards, how is it driving the profit growth? Could you expand on these items?

[Interpreted] Fujie-san, could you address those questions?

[Interpreted] Yes. Thank you very much for the questions. For example, in Philippines, NGO is collaborated with us -- collaborating with us and delicious low-salt menus are being created to be introduced to the local markets. That initiative is already taking place. So towards consumer happiness, not only Ajinomoto, but also through partnerships, we'd like to create a win-win relationship. So that we can serve as a nutrition and health, provide a -- solution-providing company, penetrating to local markets. That practice has already been made in Vietnam as was introduced in previously. School meals in Vietnam and others that are also underway in other countries, too. So those best practices will be shared in a certain format and then workplace, internal Facebook, that is, is being promoted to share the -- those best practices. And DX promotion committee is having a regular global meeting to share best practices starting from last year. And regularly, we introduce best practices to be shared and learned the lessons so that we can horizontally expand those practices worldwide.

[Interpreted] At this point in time, to what extent this will contribute to top line?

[Interpreted] We haven't calculated the details yet. However, as Nishii-san mentioned earlier, overseas consumers price increase, 3.1% or Seasonings' growth, 2.3%. Those are -- the specific targets, including price increase are already linked. To what extent this will contribute to top line going forward? We'd like to carefully or more closely calculate these going forward. And thank you very much for your input. And we'd like to solicit your continued support.

[Interpreted] And this is maybe going into the details. But on Page 36, Indonesia and Brazil Sazon are expressed. And compared to the traditional ones, price is being hiked already. Or starting with the Smart Salt, is it contributing to the expansion of MSG itself, consumption?

[Interpreted] Yes. Speaking of the unit price, compared to the traditional ones, these low-salt products added value ones or premium brands are being introduced, so the prices increased for those specific types.

[Interpreted] Let me expand on that. As Tsunoyama has mentioned, if you compare the low-salt products are highly conspicuous or evident. And the key here is the MSG globally, JPY 120 billion is the single SKU contribution. And if this contributes to the salt reduction, if we are able to actually successfully penetrate that message through MSG, then that will appropriately address your point. Quantity-wise, we can increase. Well, up until now, MSG, in response to inflation or price hike, price increase, but quantity-wise, we can also grow sales, and that is our expectation for MSG.

[Interpreted] We are very sorry, but we are running out of time. So the next question will be the last question for today. The next question is from Miura-san of Citigroup Securities.

[Interpreted] Hello. My name is Miura from Citigroup Securities. I would like to ask, well, first of all, the first half results was blended. I do understand that. So I will not ask about the profit, the driver, the negative and positive factors that will drive the profit growth next fiscal year. At the current point, what are the positive factors for next fiscal year? I do understand unit price increase, ABF and also biopharma business, pharmaceuticals, all-inclusive JPY 10 billion or so organic growth, I think, can be generated in the business profit. And on top of that, are there anything else? Or are there any risks on the other hand, let's say, if in the emerging markets, COVID-19 -- if those COVID-19 pandemic is contained, then maybe home eating will shift to restaurants, and that could -- may have a negative impact on your business. So can you give us a rough image or a rough idea what could likely happen?

[Interpreted] Well, first of all, JPY 10 billion organic growth, that is an expectation that I have as well. So I think my view is aligned with your projections. And your question, Mr. Miura, exactly that is the question that I would like to ask myself. So I don't think this is a story that I should comment on, on a hypothetical basis, in this kind of IR meeting. So we would like to scrutinize and come up with precise numbers and make examinations and share with you only after that. But as far as the professional market is concerned, especially in Asia, or South America, once COVID stabilizes, and vaccination program expands and proliferates and the tourists come back. And if we make sure that the pandemic will not resume, then the total number that we can address in terms of the mouth that we can address will increase. So not only the menu seasoning business, which is quite sizable. I think that is going to have a rather positive impact on our business because the total people eating will increase. So at the moment, of course, there was a JPY 5.5 billion impact from the raw material and fuel price increase, but we should take proper countermeasures against that to offset them so that we can enjoy the increased population eating from our menu products. That's going to be the ambition for next year.

[Interpreted] As for the profit, when you make a global comparison, to be honest with you, given your size of sales, at least I should be able -- you should be able to generate an additional JPY 40 billion, like JPY 160 billion. So like -- and then that will rank you among the top 10 companies on a global scale. Then for -- to that end, as you have been explaining to us from before, although because you have already transformed the business portfolio quite significantly, so after 2023, I think you have to further transform your business portfolio. Otherwise, you shall not be able to achieve this additional incremental profit of JPY 40 billion. So how will you accelerate your initiatives such as electronic materials, biopharma, those are improving significantly. But additional positive upside to your profit from 2023 onwards, what can we expect?

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. On March 23, we have the IR Day, and we talked about amino science-related business. And in that area, new business models have been established in terms of sales, JPY 50 billion and JPY [ 50 ] billion of profits, that was the size expected of this new business model. We made that announcement back in March. And this decides the fate whether we can increase our profit. That's one thing. Also for the food-related areas, we are only studying the establishment of a new business model. So by adding this effort, we might be able to achieve the number that you have mentioned. We would love to -- we would like to aspire to that goal, but please give us some more time to formulate that strategy.

[Interpreted] With this, we would like to finish the Q&A session. And lastly, I would like to ask Mr. Nishii to say a final comment.

[Interpreted] Well, thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for your precious time and attending this meeting, the first half results, and we received many comments from you. Thank you very much for your precious comments. We are still in the middle of our endeavors. There are so many issues that we have to continue to address and the changes are happening quite rapidly in this contemporary time. So what is most important that will continue to allow us to adapt to these changes? We have to become that kind of company and create the values that will allow us to do so. So therefore, in that regard, digital transformation will have to be incorporated in our business practices so that we can make that kind of structural reform of the company. Thank you very much for your attention, and that's all for today.

[Interpreted] We would like to finish this results presentation announcement session for today. Thank you very much to you all for your kind participation. This is it. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]