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

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking precious time to attend Ajinomoto's 2023 first-half results for the year ending March 2024. Thank you very much indeed. My name is Kaji from the IR Group. I'll be serving as your moderator. First, let me introduce the participants from Ajinomoto today. We have the Representative Executive Officer, Vice President, Mr. Fujie. Mr. Fujie, thank you very much for your participation this morning. Representative Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, Mr. Shiragami. Executive Officer and Senior Vice President, Corporate Division Head, Mr. Sasaki.

This is Sasaki here.

Executive Officer, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Food and Products Division, Mr. Masai.

This is Masai here.

Executive Officer, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, Mr. Koda.

This is Koda here. Good morning.

Executive Officer and Vice President, General Manager of AminoScience Division, Mr. Maeda.

Hello, this is Maeda. Nice to meet you.

Executive Vice Officer and Vice President, Supervision of Frozen Food, Mr. Kawana.

Hello. This is Kawana here. Nice to meet you.

Executive Officer and Vice President in charge of Finance and Investor Relations, Mr. Mizutani.

Hello. This is Mizutani. Good morning to you all.

Executive Officer and Vice President in Charge of Sustainability and Communications, Ms. Morishima.

Hello, this is Morishima. It's very nice to be with you.

Executive Officer and Vice President and General Manager of ASEAN Division and President of Ajinomoto Thailand, Mr. Sakakura.

Hello, this is Sakakura. Nice to meet you all.

Executive Officer in Charge of Diversity in HR, Ms. Kayahara.

Hello. This is Kayahara here.

And General Manager and Head of Global Communications Department, Ms. Ogiwara.

This is Ogiwara here.

So we have 12 participants from our side. We expect to finish the entire meeting in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Please be advised that the materials to be used for today's session will be -- are posted on the IR information site of Ajinomoto's homepage. Please also be advised that this session is recorded all the way to the Q&A session, to be posted on the company's IR site later on. Now without further ado, we would like to begin today's presentation. Under the title of the forecast for fiscal 2023 and the initiative for enhancing corporate value, Mr. Fujie will begin his presentation. Mr. Fujie, the floor is yours.

Good morning. Thank you very much for attending despite your busy schedule. We thank you very much indeed. The forecast for March 2024 and also the initiative for enhancing corporate value, I would like to briefly explain these points to you and move on to the Q&A session to answer your questions. So please bear with me. Now the next slide, please. First of all, as a CEO message, I just would like to share with you. There are 6 points here. First of all, as for the first half of the year, both sales and business profit achieved a new record for the company. The revised forecast for fiscal 2023, sales and business profit were maintained from the initial forecast. So the profit attributable to the owners of the parent company was revised upwards from previous JPY 95 billion to JPY 100 billion. Second point, the profit margin for Seasonings, Foods overseas recovered significantly. And also, the frozen foods in North America are now showing the results of our structural reform program. And also, the quick actions we have undertaken in 2022 made a good effect here. The third point, the challenges in Japan, the seasoning and food, we wanted to increase the unit and also the volume as well; however, the consumers' reaction to protect their livelihood to -- against the increased prices because of that, that was not possible for us to achieve volume growth. Our capabilities in that regard was insufficient. On the other hand, we established a marketing design center and established a new ground for us to launch new products, so that we now have the ground to stand ready to deliver more than double digits. So we would like to take the short-term as well as medium- to long-term actions in a solid fashion. The fourth point, the semiconductor market. Although we wanted -- we anticipate the recovery to happen in the middle of 2023; however, this is getting prolonged than expected. And also for the health care business, our clients' inventory adjustment was larger than expected, especially for the amino acids for pharmaceuticals. Therefore, this had a toll on our business performance. On the other hand, the market itself, as we had anticipated, over the medium term, this market is growing, so we are confident that the health care and other businesses will come back to the growth track eventually. The first point, the road map for 2030, we are taking necessary measures. We would like to actually further promote this and continue to refine this road map so that we can enhance the corporate value in a dramatic fashion on a continuous basis. And the last point here. Towards 2024, short-term measures will have to be implemented. So therefore, we would like to take initiatives to lower the breakeven point, especially we will like to concentrate and reduce the number of SKUs. We have done this in the past, but we would like to further brush up and promote these measures going forward so that we can become a leaner organization. By doing so, we would like to steadily achieve the 2023 targets and of course, achieve double-digit growth in business profit, in line with the road map towards 2024. That is what we like to achieve. Now those are the highlights of my message. So moving on to the next point, which is about the summary of the results for the first half ended March, September and also the forecast for 2023. Just briefly, the next page, please. This shows the digest of the first half results. Sales and both business profit achieved an increase, and this was -- both recorded a record high JPY 688 billion in sales, 104.3% of the previous year level, excluding the impact of foreign currency, 100.8%. And also the business profit, JPY 76.5 billion or 103% of the previous year. And also the net profit attributable to the parent of the company, JPY 46.4 billion, 98.7% of the previous fiscal year level. And moving on to the next page, which shows the business profit changes. The factors behind the change in business profit, especially the sales drove the growth of GP. And also, the GP was up by JPY 10 billion. And also the GP growth was limited to JPY 700 million due to the GP margin growth, but this year was limited so that we have made a very improved SG&A limited to JPY 70 billion. So the profit was increased from 743 to 765 here or JPY 74.3 billion to JPY 76.5 billion. The next one is the business profit changes based on the segments -- disclosed segments. So please refer to it. The next page is the Sauce and Seasoning and Quick Nourishment, the breakdown of sales and also the factors behind the changes in business profit on the left-hand side. You see Japan overseas on the right-hand side. As far as Japan market is concerned, initially, the volume growth was expected to be 103% and unit price 106% was the initial target -- initial forecast. However, still at this point of time, as I always mentioned at the outset, the volume increase in Japan was not that cheap because of the insufficient capabilities. So we are now trying to further improve our capabilities in accelerated fashion. On the right-hand side, the overseas market, both volume and unit prices progressing favorably. And actually, the overseas sales increased 110% over the previous year level on a local currency basis. Next page shows the March 2024 forecast. The full year forecast of 2023 was reviewed once again. And as a result of that review, the company-wide sales and business profit remains unchanged from the initial forecast. But when you look at the numbers by segment, we have made these slight adjustments or revisions. And also in light of the business profit forecast also, we made an upward revision to the profit under operating profit. The next page shows the changes in business profit by factors. So please refer to it at your convenience. And the next one is the change in business profit by disclosed segments, so please refer to them. Next, these are the results for the sales breakdown for Seasonings and Quick Nourishment, as well as business profit factors behind changes of business profit. And for Japan, the volume remains at 100%, and the unit price stood at 108% to achieve 108% year-on-year. That is our forecast or projection. And the price hike will run its course, but recovery of volume is expected. And also price hike for soup will take effect to achieve this plan for the second half. For overseas, volume 103% revised from 101%. And unit price at 108%. So the total is 111%. Compared to first half, the unit price growth will be slowed. However, the volume growth will be accelerated towards the second half. Next slide, please. This is the Frozen Foods at the recovery of North American market. Well, through the on-site capacity increase, our capability increase as well as other measures taken for -- it's realized 2030 exponential growth, and we are gaining confidence. There are 3 points here: OE realization, operational excellence realization. To take effect or generate effects at an early phase and also enhance the local capability, that has been the initiative, which pushed up the results or profits in the past. And also second is the advancement of business management. As you can see, structural reform is underway, and it is taking effect. Number three is the creation of value-added business, not only in Japan but ASEAN frozen food value-added items. Well, in collaboration with Japan, North American food, frozen food business will be led through this collaboration. Next is functional materials. In FY '23, in the mid-FY '23, we expected that the market will recover. That was our initial forecast. However, compared to that initial forecast, the recovery is slowing, slower than anticipated. But towards the second half of this year, it will bottom out and it will start to recover. That is our projection. And also for -- on the mid- to long term, the market growth remains robust, and we are confident that this market will grow. On top of that, generative AI, which is in great demand and semiconductors for AI will have great potential going forward. At this point in time, this AI semiconductor are only very small compared to the size of the entire semiconductor market, but it will grow exponentially going forward. And compared to the regular PCs, the semiconductor substrate for AI use more ABF compared to regular PCs. Therefore, will contribute to the further growth of ABF business. Next, Biopharma Services & Ingredients. Of this Amino Acids for Pharmaceuticals and Foods. Due to the key account inventory adjustment, we were -- we faced a severe impact on our sales and profit. And also the inventory adjustment, we are enhancing our capability to foresee customers' inventory level. However, for this particular amino acids for pharmaceuticals and food, we were unable to predict this accurately. And this is a big issue for us. We are cognizant of this. So by actively working on this issue, we are trying to come up ways to overcome the current state of affairs that is our focus going forward. On the other hand, the market itself, as you can see, will grow and remains the same. Having said that, though, considering other changing economic and social elements, the customers will need to adjust their inventory levels. So we'd like to be better at foreseeing inventory adjustment level going forward for this particular subsegment. Next is Biopharma Service. CDMO. Regarding this service, especially in North America, Althea, biopharmaceutical inventory adjustment had an impact and blocked will -- precluded our ability to grow our orders. And also in Belgium, we have a company called OmniChem. And part of their facility for small molecules are now diverted to nucleotide medicine facilities. And that plans to profit year-on-year. However, in Japan, centered around AJIPHASE, nucleotide CDMO is growing robustly. And this covered the -- some of the negative points that I mentioned earlier. And in terms of the inquiries. And also other pipeline products, they are quite rich. So going forward, we will be able to lead a sustainable level and exponential growth for the CDMO business. So this isn't actually a structural issue. Next is the 2030 roadmap ASV Indicators and the progress of it. We've made slight modifications for FY '23, as you can see on the slide. And also, next slide shows the ASV indicators for -- by segment and the growth trajectory. So there are some corrections or adjustments made for the by segment numbers. And next is the Assets and Liabilities. Regarding the total assets, due to the impact of the ForEx on inventory assets, we expect that inventory asset is expected to be higher than the initial forecast. And next describes the cash generation capability. During the first half of FY '23, inventory assets as well as AR were impacted by ForEx. And also during the COVID-19 pandemic, we prioritized the safe delivery of our products. So that was -- that pushed up the level of safety stock here. But because the pandemic is subsiding, so we'd like to make sure that the inventory level will be reduced. Next is the strategic investment. We are shifting from the structural reform phase to the growth phase. Therefore, we'd like to make sure that investments will be made in tangible and intangible assets, especially with the intangible assets to realize the 2030 road map, intangible assets are key and the driving force. So we'd like to achieve 50-50 ratio in terms of the intangible and tangible asset investment. Next is the KPI trend. As you can see, the numbers are revised upward. Moving on to the next page, which is about the investment for growth and shareholder returns. JPY 160 billion of cash generation is our target. And we'll try to make investments in areas where the return is quite hefty. And the allocation target for 2030 in the road map of JPY 750 billion for capital expenditures. For M&A, we would like to accelerate and also speed up and scale up in that regard. We are allocating JPY 300 billion for M&A. And by 2025, we would like to contest the amount of cash balance to JPY 90 billion or so. And for the investments, as you can see, we have already made these announcements, so please refer to them. And the second point regarding the initiatives to enhance our corporate value. I just would like to mention the highlights here. The first one is the management evolution. So we would like to involve the management as listed up here. So towards a new ambition and new purposes, we are now promoting management reform. The next page shows the -- we have developed a road map, and we have started what is called the road follow-up activities. So not just developing the road map, we are working on a follow-up on that so the path towards 2030 and initiatives towards achieving those goals, we are very fine quite meticulously with these division in each business unit, we are conducting these follow-up meetings. So we will show you a 1 minute and 30 second video to show what we are doing here. [Presentation]

Thank you very much for that. As you have just seen in the video. Well, the person who spoke at the outset was Mr. Okamoto. He used to be the Head of the Seasoning and Food business prior. And from April 2023, he is now heading the Marketing Design Center as executive officer. So he working transversely across the company in that capacity. So when he was the Head of the Seasoning and Food business, he was trying to come up with products that could generate sales of more than JPY 1 billion every year. So currently at the Marketing Design Center, he is listening to the voices of customers. And trying to reflect them into the new product development and initiatives. And the follow-up of this road map, we have conducted these kind of 3 rounds of dialogues in October this year. So working solidly for the follow-up on the road map, we would like to brush up the road map, so that we can deliver on the goals. The next page shows the management evolution in bullet points. The upper part shows what we have already done and achieved or making good progress. And -- but not everything is making good progress, to be honest with you. So some efforts need further improvement or further strengthening so that we can achieve evolution improvement. So I would like to talk about them one month, citing some examples. As for the issues that we were able to achieve progress, for example, Vietnam Ajinomoto's performance recovery initiatives are listed up here. AVN-R project was launched. And previously, Vietnam was working to improve its performance on its own previously. But we have involved the regional headquarters as well as the headquarters as well to provide the necessary support so that their business performance can be recovered. So we are now solidifying the path to recovery so that we have redefined the team, and also we built and reconstructed the core business. So that resulted in a steep recovery of the business, as you can see at the bottom chart on this slide. The next one is the North American frozen food business. These are not the things that we were able to achieve solid progress. So to illustrate what we have been able to achieve on improvement, especially the ASEAN's overseas food and -- seasonings and food was contributing significantly to the improvement of the performance in the current fiscal year. So Mr. Sakakura, who is the Head of ASEAN business and the Head of Ajinomoto Thailand, he would like to share with you the concrete measures that he has been implementing. Mr. Sakakura, the floor is yours.

This is Sakakura. I would like to introduce the initiatives undertaken at the ASEAN level. The current status of ASEAN is now supported by the rolling focus initiatives that we have implemented in 2021. These are now taking route inside the entire organization. From 2020, we started on a test basis in Indonesia. And based on that from 2021, we have expanded the rollout to 8 countries in ASEAN region. The reason why we have implemented this because back then at ASEAN countries, we -- I was astonished by the fast-changing environment. And also, we thought that the slow response, our company was a challenge for that. So we wanted to capture the signs of changes as quick as possible and respond quickly, and that's the reason why we have introduced a rolling forecast. So early detection and early cure was the major purpose here. And after the introduction of rolling forecast, the COVID-19 spread and the pandemic expanded, and also we promoted the use of online meeting and also the digitalization of food product and Ukraine issue happened. So there are many external changes. So in order to respond to those external environment changes from the quarterly base forecast, we have made a transition to monthly forecast. And at the end of the day, we have implemented and visualized the forecast for the raw material prices as well. Currently, by looking at the changes in the gap with the forecast on a monthly basis, we are able to identify what's the reason behind the gap and reflecting of these changes to the market performance as a full year forecast. And also by looking at the year-on-year changes of the GAAP. We are looking into the feasibility and be able to forecast the changes between the full year GAAP and also the market basis and reduce the expenses as necessary and also revise the prices as an additional price revision. And also for the raw materials currently from each company, the impact on the performance of the company in terms of the scale of such impact, we are now looking into and monitoring the 20 items. This will allow us to reduce the cost at early days, and we are reflecting this in the price revision as well. Not only [ PI ] items, but the CCC indicators has also taken monitoring so that we can lead this to the next action. So through these actions based on that from 2023, we have started the rolling forecast initiatives on a global basis. So we started the global operation from April 2023. The next page, please. The rolling forecast, early detection and early cure besides that this also has an impact of management quality improvement, because this will have a full management chain impact. So this is a very huge impact. So the changes with the sales forecast could have an impact on the sales plan and also the cost plan, and this will have an impact on the CCC and the performance, and this will be visualized. And also, the marketing initiatives and also the product development delay could have an impact on the sales plan. And of course, that will have a negative -- positive impact on the performance of the company. Of course, it may consider to be a matter for granted. But of course, this will -- visualization of this will further enhance the collaboration within the organization. And also, this leads to the improvement of the management quality. And in reality, we believe the management quality has enhanced as a result of this measure. Of course, there were many trials and numbers over the last 2 years. And of course, there are still management -- still issues to be directed. But I think we saw -- we can say that we were able to establish a format that will enhance the management capability. The next page, so the ability to read and forecast and also the management capabilities. What we have implemented in ASEAN, for example, the raw material and the fuel costs, we are able to identify these and also the competitors' move so that these are reflected swiftly into price changes of our product and the well-being of people and the well-being of theirs. We are -- we're able to launch these new products that are contributing to the well-being of the pin-pointers. And of course, the flavor seeking and also the reduced food were the good examples of that. And also, the post-COVID-19 environment. The pure liquidity hasn't had a lot of COVID-19. So the HR market, we have to review the talent system, the human resource system that is catered to the current market, and we were able to take immediate actions towards that direction. Going forward, these are the items to be executed or to be expanded horizontally. Let me introduce some of them. First, by utilizing the strength of both food and AminoScience in Thailand, for example, on the right-hand side, Amino MOF is a product name. This is for the elderly supplement. And in November, we will -- we launched this product in Thailand. And in Vietnam, for to improve mother and child nutrition in collaboration with the government, mother and children project, that is, the [indiscernible] project that has been kicked off. In Vietnam, our school meal project has been launched already. And as a continuation, in line with the government or collaboration with the government, by utilizing our intangible assets, we are launching new projects. And also, Thailand started an EC project with an external collaborator that has been expanded to ASEAN nations. The EC has been conducted on our own, but by inviting external experts, as a result, we were able to actually expand the profit of EC market in Thailand. The Thailand market size, EC size is not so significant, but this successful case will be expanded elsewhere, starting from Thailand, but we are now entering Indonesia and Philippines and Vietnam. So the same effort is underway. In the future, the data captured during this project will be utilized for further product development and other sales activities going forward. And for -- to attract that generation, KOL-based sustainability promotion PR will be implemented across ASEAN nations. And lastly, there are areas where existing businesses cannot address slightly different from the existing product lineup. And this could be a potential hit. Therefore, we need to make sure that we can harness this new value creation or new business creation. And there is a specific team dedicated for creating a new business based on -- leading to a further new value creation, and we are accelerating this special project as well, and that concludes my presentation.

Sakakura-san, thank you very much. Now I'd like to continue my part. I'd like to introduce the optimization of DIO. As I mentioned earlier, there are -- things are underway. Initiatives are underway to reduce the inventory assets. And we make sure that the progress is monitored. Koda-san is the CDO who is presiding over this initiative. Also going forward, SKU consolidation and reduction will be promoted to make our management or businesses leaner. Next is the initiatives for the HR assets. And there is a preliminary score for the engagement survey that I'd like to share with you today. Well, the most items that draw our attention is the ASV realization process. Those who responded favorably was 76, which was up from last year, but it's flat, rather. And we'd like to do more to further improve ASV realization process so that we can drive other reforms. On the left-hand side, the scores are usually high or overall high except for productivity enhancement, which is the third from the bottom, which was up 6 points last year. However, it's still low. And this highlights several issues. And to delve into this matter, there is a cumbersome internal approval procedure that was revealed as the main attribution here for the low productivity score. So moving away from this laying the groundwork-type culture, we'd like to make sure initial initiatives will be implemented. And in terms of the relationship between performance and engagement survey, and we are analyzing the results based on the survey results for FY '23. The customer orientation as well as productivity enhancement and understanding towards our purpose. We'll contribute to the business profit per capita as well as sales per capita. So there is a correlation between these 2. Therefore, based on these engagement survey results, we'd like to further enrich the HR assets we have as part of intangible assets. And this is one of the issues that we are facing. That was the case. And also, another issue is the engagement of those in their 20s. In the right box -- in the red box, the scores are shown of those in their 20s. The carrier-related information is provided to those young individuals. However, in terms of envisioning their own future, it's still at 52%. It is not so significant. And on the right-hand side in the blue box is the external evaluation store named [ OSS score ] named OpenWork's. And of course, Ajinomoto ranks among the top 1%. So the overall assessment is good at 4.0%, on par with the top 50 companies. However, especially with the growth environment for those in the 20s, compared to -- it is around the average of the food industry company, but there is a significant gap to be rectified to ramp the top. So this is an area of improvement for us. And next describes the specific measurements -- measures. In the red box, the initiatives for the young employees, including those dialogue and experience-based ABF program to nurture the young employees. And also, we are to launch an in-house open recruitment system. In 2022, we introduced the system first, and there were more than 40 cases. But now during 2023, we'd like to increase the cases to 100. And then 70% of individuals will voluntarily change their jobs. That is the ideal state in order to further raise their level of engagement. And the right-hand side sets the activities towards the managers. So all managers were given coaching training programs. 65% have already completed this training program. By the end of this year, we'd like to aim or cover 100% of managers. So instead of teaching, we'd like them to provide coaching so that they can maximumly utilize the ability of the young employees. And my next -- my last slide here, this is a repetition of my message as the CEO. There were things that we achieved in the areas of improvement. We'd like to further accelerate where we achieved positive results. And for those where we fall short of meeting the target, but this is a great chance, and we need to address those issues one by one. By doing so, we'll be able to work towards the ASV towards 2030. Now we'd like to entertain questions from the audience to gain your better understanding. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you very much.

Thank you Fujie-san and Sakakura-san. I would like to start the Q&A session. So I would like to explain how to raise a question. If you have a question, please raise hand -- press the return button on your screen. And we would like to nominate the questioner from our side. If you are nominated, please unmute yourself and begin your statement. For those of you participating overseas, you are possible to raise your question in English. We would like to answer through the simultaneous translation service. For the number of questions, we would like to limit the number of questions to 2 questions per one time. We thank you very much for your cooperation in advance. If you wish to raise a question, and if there are so many questioners, there is a possibility that we may not be able to address and accommodate all the questions. Now we would like to begin the Q&A session. If you have a question, please press the raise hand button. Okay. The first question comes from Mizuho Securities. Mr. Saji.

Good morning to you. Thank you very much for appointing me. The share price has plunged by 8% from this morning. So in light of that, I would like to ask a question. On Slide 16, Biopharma Services. If you look at that page, the actual performance has been quite tough on you, I believe. So my question is about the CDMO business in particular. From the -- in the July-September quarter, the negative revenue was JPY 1.8 billion for the total company. But if you look at CDMO only, JPY 3.4 billion of revenue decline was reported in the July-September quarter. So Mr. Fujie talked about 2 points, the inventory adjustment in North America and also the existing facility in Europe was converted. So that associated with some costs and that was the reason -- major reason behind the revenue decline, about JPY 3.4 billion of revenue decline was quite significant in my view and vis-a-vis, the total revenue decline of the entire company. So can you just elaborate on the individual impact of these elements and towards the second half of the year? Is this likely to recover? You said that this is likely to recover. But in the first quarter, you said that the biopharma service ingredients was in line with the -- thought it was in line with the plan at the end of the first quarter. So it seems that because now that you have made a downward revision, the environment is becoming harsher. So if you just single out the CDMO business only and talk about the prospects of recovery in the second half, that will be appreciated.

Thank you very much, Saji-san, I'm so sorry for causing you some concerns. Well, as I mentioned earlier, the 2 points that I mentioned, in addition to the 2 points, actually, the shipment timing of various products is another factor that we have out here. Like, in particular, the shipment timing in Japan. Some of these things were scheduled to be in the first half. That was something that I mentioned in the previous IR session. So I was -- I said that I was confident about these shipments to be done in the first half. Of course, we already completed the shipment in October. So that's the reason why I said that we are building confidence towards the full year. So that's another rationale why I said that the confidence is -- I still have confidence for the full year. The Belgium issue, we have converted the production method, and I think that will run its course eventually. So those facilities were not available, so we were not able to produce products and not be able to ship some products as a result of that. So all these things are now going to be complete. And also Althea of North America, the inventory adjustment impact was there. And also, a new product order was received. After received order for new products, how we can accelerate that in the second half is going to be another key for the performance of the second half of the year. So I'm sure that we have caused you some concerns. But for the full year outlook, for the things that we have been projecting. So far, we are building confidence of delivering all these projections. AminoScience division Head, Mr. Maeda, if you have anything to add on, please do so if you have anything.

Well, this is Maeda. As Mr. Fujie mentioned, mainly AJIPHASE and other nucleic acid products, the shipment per one time is quite sizable. So essentially, we wanted to normalize the shipments in the first quarter, second quarter, but these were delayed and came all together in the October. So that's another big factor behind the difference between the first half and second half performance. As far the full year growth, as it's written on 16 -- Page 16, 120% growth is expected here versus the previous fiscal year.

OmniChem conversion, you said it's run its course already. But as of the end of September, is it already completed? Is that the right understanding? Has it been completed by the end of September?

Yes, the construction work is still in progress, but nothing is going to buy any shipments any more -- any longer.

Okay. So in the third quarter, this is no longer going to be a factor for the performance of the third quarter?

Yes, yes, we'll see -- we're expecting a huge improvement compared to the first half.

Next question. Takagi-san, SMBC Nikko Securities. Takagi-san? Can you hear us? Could you please unmute yourself so that you're audible.

May I? Do you hear me?

Yes.

This is Takagi speaking. I'd like to raise 2 questions. First, looking at the results at this time, the growth driver, biopharma, was plunged quite significantly this time due to customers' inventory adjustment as well as the semiconductor market conditions. So those were uncontrollable, and they are external environments. But this -- well, the driver was heavily impacted by these external factors. This is only a transient factor. However, this thing, this phenomenon may be repeated in the future. So regarding biopharma service, including amino acids, you mean to make sure that things will return to growth? And are there any measures that you are implementing going forward to ensure that they return to the recovery growth -- recovery or growth trajectory?

Well, first, thank you very much for the question. And sorry for causing your concern, especially with the biopharma service and health care and others, amino acids for pharmaceuticals. This lacked actual -- enough capability, and that is taken seriously. On my part, well, issues or challenges is a gap between where we'd like to be and where we are. Therefore, by relieving the gap, we can actually think of ways to address it going forward. And then once we execute those measures, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail. And if we fail, then we rectify or revise our measures to keep trying on and keep addressing the same issue. That is important. Well, in light of that, as Sakakura-san mentioned earlier, rolling forecast is one of the examples that we'd like to implement on a monthly basis for the business. Those involved in the business need to understand and fully grasp what's going on a monthly basis using this rolling forecast to reveal what's unknown, what has been unknown. And that is key, as Sakakura-san mentioned earlier. In Indonesia, in 2020, they launched this Berlin forecast. And that is how they became more capable. So by doing so, not only the production, but the R&D and sales as well as [ SEM, ] those multiple divisions were tightly linked through the -- across the value chain. And that was a capability that was missing for this particular segment. Therefore, rolling forecast will be fully executed. And also in learning the experience of ASEAN, lessons learned in ASEAN will be reflected in Japan as well so we can mutually learn from each other. In addition, to a certain extent for FY '23, electronics materials base inventory adjustment and amino science as well. And this was anticipated. So in FY '22, for food, price hikes were implemented. Of course, the cost reduction exercise was the key initiative, but we introduced price hikes to cover the -- to offset the impact as well. And that has been adopted globally during FY '22. So management-wise, rolling forecast, during FY '22, we already projected that there will be many headwinds to overcome in FY '23. That has been the reason or grounds why we implemented price hikes so early. And for FY '23, I understand that we are causing many concerns. But with the SKU consolidation and concentration, which has been implemented, but we needed to do more. And by doing so, we can increase the profit level. Based on our previous experience, we are certain that our profitability will grow. And also for the -- by learning experiences for our other companies, global top food companies, SKUs are further advanced. Therefore, we'd like to focus on SKU consolidation and concentration going forward even further. And your advice is taken seriously so that we can improve our execution level so that we can continue our growth going forward. Thank you very much for the questions.

So in terms of the rolling forecast, I understand fully about your initiative. But having said that though, yes, if food was able to adopt this rolling forecast, quite appropriately. But customers' inventory adjustment is something uncontrollable by Ajinomoto. So that is the point where you need to address more. What measures can you implement to address those uncontrollable features?

Well, to that point, continual stable growth area needs to be further identified so that we can focus in terms of the business. That should be the core of our business. And as part of that initiative, in 2030, there are 4 BMX areas, namely health care, food and wellness, ICT and green, those are the 4 BMX areas which have been identified. Especially with AminoScience, health care and others is -- cannot address all of them. But as you pointed out, continual and stable growth of business is the area where we need to focus our resources, concentrate our resources. And currently, from multiple angles, we are examining or discussing the details. So please give us some more time.

I Understand. So ability to foresee is where you lacked. And can you elaborate a little more on that? Can you actually enhance your ability to foresee?

Well, ability to foresee or anticipate. Well, we need to keep trying on a monthly basis. From my own experience in China, there was a loss-making company in China which I used to head. And the finance head said that we needed to do better in terms of foreseeing or projection. We didn't call it a rolling forecast back then, but the same thing, same method was used. So every month, we looked at the sales and profit. We projected for the next month based on the current results. And then once the next month is over, then once we have the actual results, we analyze that how much we differed. And there were significant gaps in some cases. And then we looked back why there was a significant gap between what we anticipated and what we received actually. So one was the timing of orders from customers, which was unclear or even if we received the orders, the payments were delayed sometimes or expense timing. So those were the abilities that we had to train at each division, the leaders of each division. That was important. And once we are capable of doing so, as Sakakura-san mentioned, each part of value chain can work together to have an efficient and leaner initiative that can meet customers' requirements. So from my -- based on my own experience and other members' experience, we learned that lesson. On the other hand, with AminoScience, that is an area we need to improve yet. So going forward, we need to do better with that. So Maeda-san, who is an expert of food, is now Head of AminoScience. And that is our strength going forward. So by learning what's good mutually and we can actually supplement what's missing from each other. So that is the strength we can enjoy.

The next question will be from Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Tsunoyama-san, please begin your question.

Hello. Thank you very much. This is Tsunoyama from Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. I have one question regarding your view towards the performance for next fiscal year. So I would like to hear your philosophy of the management team. So -- and you said that the health care risk for 2023 were anticipated. So that's the reason why you have conducted aggressive price hikes in 2022 in the food area. So now when you foresee the risk for 2024, what are the risks that you are anticipating right now? And what are the initiatives that you are taking right now? Can you talk about and share the progress that you have implemented there?

Yes. Tsunoyama-san, thank you very much for the question. So I would like to give an overall comment. And if there's any supplementary comment, I would like to ask other division heads to comment as well. So as for the risk factors, geopolitical risk, of course, naturally is one thing that we had to anticipate. And also the risk of conflicts are also something we have to anticipate as well. So for these math matters. We have what is called the Management Risk Committee, which looks at various risks such as the Gaza Strip issue and also Israeli conflict here. So we are now trying to understand the current status so that we can take proper measures, especially when it comes to the raw material and also fuel cost, what -- to what extent we have to anticipate impact, we will try to identify those risks as early as possible. Now another thing is about the various level of inventory adjustment. In the second half of 2023, the amino acids for pharmaceuticals and also electronic materials, for those, we believe we are expecting that the inventory adjustment will hit its bottom and start to bottom out in 2023. However, if things get prolonged than anticipated, that could potentially pose a risk for us. So that could be a potential risk factor. However, the inventory level, I think customers will carry a certain level of inventory at least. And also, as far as what we understand at the customers' level of inventory, I do not think this is going to continue forever for such a long time throughout 2024. But still, that could be -- we have to perceive these things as potential risks. So each division is now contemplating the necessary countermeasures for that. So the 2 business heads, do you have anything to add? Okay. Masai-san, Head of Food business, can you comment first?

Yes. This is Masai. I would like to talk about the Food business perspective. First, I have 2 points that I would like to elaborate. First of all, as it was just mentioned, many different geopolitical risks are there. So in the Food business, we are thinking about the potential scenarios which could have an impact on certain raw materials. So we are lifting up all these critical cases. And in the event that we have a list that will bar us from procuring the necessary raw materials. We are now developing the policies, and we'll finish those development within the fiscal year so that we can be ready should anything happen in the next fiscal year. And the second point is that, we talked about this several times today when we run the management, the management of the company, the SKUs and also the inventory, those are things that we always have to keep an eye on. So another thing that we are concerned about is the utilization of our facilities. Of course, whether we should conduct -- discuss this as part of the risk is something that we have to discuss, but I think the utilization decline because we are using the standard data cost method for the accounting purposes, so that will have a significant toll on the cost of our company. So this could -- should be perceived as a business management risk from my viewpoint. So the utilization of factory is something that we would like to focus on. And specifically, the production and also the sales team will have to work together so that we can address those areas where the utilization is low and starting those -- those factories. So we would like to have a company-wide communication enhancement in order to prevent such cases. And Maeda-san can talk about the overall AminoScience division. Of course, it was -- I've been talking about. This is a B2B business. So COVID-19 and Ukraine situation resulted in a safety inventory level on the part of customers and that is taking longer time, and it's expected to eliminate those inventory. And these impact, whether this can be completely eliminated in 2024 is something that we have to keep a close eye on. When it comes to B2B, the worst thing we do is to rush and reduce and discount our prices in order to get orders. But we won't have any effects unless the inventories are eliminated. So we have to keep a close eye on the market conditions. So we would like to increase our defense capability in 2024, such as utilization and also the portfolio. We will focus on the high profit margin products so that we can capture the demand without losing the opportunity. So after coming to the Amino Science division, I think that the capability for us to score and develop business is quite good. But when it comes to the defense side, there are many things that we can still work on. So for 2024, we would like to strengthen our defense capability in 2024.

Okay. So I heard about the risk, and I understand very well. So for 2024, the driver for your performance next fiscal year would be, for the food business, I think the performance has improved significantly this year, but that is not perfect. So when it comes to utilization and also the pricing policy, there are further -- aiming for further growth. And of course, when it comes to health care business, the inventory elimination could take longer time than expected, but I think the things are going to be better than this year, at least for next fiscal year. So these -- you have good prospects of achieving double-digit growth next fiscal year. Is that correct understanding?

Yes, I think that understanding is okay. And also, we also like to boost the profit level should anything happen. So we will work on this in parallel.

Next question, Miyazaki-san from Goldman Securities.

This is Miyazaki speaking, Goldman Sachs Securities. I would like to raise 2 questions. First is to do with the functional materials. Overall, inventory adjustment will bottom out. That is our projection. But towards the second half, your profit plan is about JPY 15.4 billion, and the second half is JPY 7 billion. So compared to July and September, the second half will be similar to the earlier results in the second quarter. But the third and fourth quarter, will the figures stay around JPY 7 billion? Or will there be a plunge and then recover in the fourth quarter? Well, for the first half, the functional materials was down. But for the next fiscal year, you are to recover to achieve a profit increase. Is that your projection for the next fiscal year? Could you clarify a little bit in terms of where you would like to land this year? And how you foresee your business next year? But this year, the negative results, will you be able to recover the results and rectify the results in the next fiscal year? Could you elaborate on this matter?

Yes, I'd like to give an overview. Well, items we committed, we'd like to make sure that we are -- we fulfill the targets that we committed. That is the strong corporate mission. So the ones that were disclosed for the functional materials, we'd like to make sure that we meet the targets that we already announced. For FY '24, we project a recovery. To do so, during FY '23, inventory will be adjusted. So the shipment was down compared to FY '22. But if things recover, then this could be another growth driver going forward.

And would you be able to expound on the matter?

Miyazaki-san, thank you very much for the question. Regarding functional materials, by 2030, the plan we formulated last year is solid, or we could even surpass the plan that was formulated last year. To achieve that this year, several points in the value chain, there is an accumulation of inventory. So for this fiscal year, things remain uncertain. But -- the second half will slightly better -- be better compared to the first half. We remain conservative; however, and we are already in negotiations for '25 and '26 adoption. And activities are underway. For FY '24, negotiations were conducted last year, and we hope that things will be according to the plan.

Thank you very much. I would like to ask a follow-up question. Regarding biopharma service, there is the same main point here. The profit in the second half will be 70%, 80% increase, biopharma service and ingredients, I'm talking about. And the sales will be up 19%. That is your forecast. And as you explained earlier, shipment timing delayed, well, that may have an impact. But having said that, the 80% increase in terms of profit is quite significant. So like functional materials, are you remaining conservative to make sure that you meet the target as planned or inventory adjustment will subside? Is that your -- what you anticipate? Could you please elaborate on this matter? And also, how does that relate to the next year's performance? Well, there is a list or there is a dislocation in the second half, and then you achieve an even field to return to growth next year, which case is it?

Miyazaki-san, thank you very much for the question. So I'd like to provide an outline and Maeda-san will address the details. Regarding biopharma service, the same logic applies. So we remain conservative in terms of projection. Based on the shipment delay or shipment dislocation in the second half is anticipated. And that's why we come up with the solid figures. And for FY '24, there are things to be determined. But then things are not finalized yet, but until 2024 -- 2025 targets are set and to meet the 2030 ASV indicators or initiatives, we'd like to assess the actual results for 2022 and 2023. So on our part, at the end of each fiscal year, we'd like to take that as a basis of the previous year to expand the business further. But first half or second half fluctuations, including the seasonal fluctuations need to be minimized, including the market volatility. And we'd like to do better in terms of devising ways to even out the situation or fluctuation. Maeda-san, could you please add?

As Fujie-san mentioned earlier, regarding health care and others, there is a wide range of materials, amino acids for pharmaceuticals, and there is market conditions. Therefore, pandemic, the market was expanding, but the inventory adjustment took place. And that is -- will become the basis for further. And for the cutting-edge modality, including [indiscernible], the targets are specific therapeutic areas. Therefore, one chart is quite sizable. So for this part, year-on-year or quarter-on-quarter results is meaningless. So I'd like to actually even out the shipments level. However, that's not the case. So we need to actually apply a long-term horizon, such as on an annual base. And for the modality -- shifting the modality, as the modality business raises or increases, then we won't be -- we could resist more one-shot variance, and that is the future ideal state that we'd like to create.

The next question, this will be from JPMorgan. Yoshida-san, please begin the question.

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

Yes, we hear you very well.

I would like to have a question regarding the Food Product business, coffee, in particular. The Food Products business overall is enjoying good favorable progress this year, but the coffee relatively appears to be weak. So this time around in the road map, you are going to make a transition to the stick coffee product in the future. But in order for you to reconstruct the coffee business in Japan, what are your thoughts? What are the initiatives that you're contemplating? Can you comment on that point?

Well, thank you very much, Yoshida-san, for the question. For coffee business, of course, we have been communicating that we are implementing many different initiatives for coffee. And as you rightly pointed out, Yoshida-san, the green bean, to the extent possible, we would not like to be affected so much by the green bean prices so that we can increase the variety that are less affected, such as the stick device -- stick products will be expanded in the future. So we would like to focus on the expansion of stick products. The KPI have been set, and we are making good progress so far, in our view. On the other hand, for this fiscal year, the coffee bean prices have been volatile. And especially the [indiscernible] variant is increasing quite significantly. So of course, we are implementing short-term measures in order to bring down the cost. And over the medium term, we are now trying to increase the percentage of stick products for the future. Meanwhile, the volume has been decreasing, especially in the Japanese coffee product. The June and also in September, we raised the prices of coffee. And in reaction to that, the volume has come down in reaction to the price hikes. However, this was an intentional price hike. And this was anticipated. So therefore, over the medium term, I think we can expect a recovery for the volume of coffee as well. But maybe Masai-san, who is heading the Food Products division can also add a comment.

Thank you very much. Mr. Fujie already commented, but I would like to add some supplementary comments as well. Three points that I would like to share with you. First of all, actually, in the first half of this fiscal year, well, until the beginning of this fiscal year, we had a high expectation for this measure. What I'm talking about this in past tense, but this is not finished yet, which is about the exports of coffee products to China. Actually, this is growing quite significantly and is still growing significantly. However, at this point of time, the exports to China, as you may know very well, because of the circumstances, not only our products, but overall, food exports to China is getting difficult right now because of the political situation. So this is just a transitory thing, onetime phenomenon. When things permit, I think this will become another driver for coffee products to grow in the future. We have already identified the pinpoint product for China. Of course, we have to wait for the right timing, but I think we expect future growth for the exports of coffee, not only for China, but I think that we have identified the products for exports for coffee in the future. The second point is that although we don't have the clear answer for the initiative yet, but coffee, if you look at the nature of coffee, the game is decided in the winter and the huge enemy for coffee is the hot weather in summer. So we have to develop products that can sell well in the summer, and we are requesting the R&D team to develop a good product for summer. The third point that I would like to share with you is about the green bean of coffee, which is subject to huge volatility in prices and also affected quite significantly by the currency rate. And of course, the raw material is -- we are at the mercy of the raw material prices, so we had to break away from that situation. But we have to continue using green bean, and this is going to be a very important raw material for us on a continual basis. So far, AGF was -- had a very -- its own decision when it comes to procurement. But Ajinomoto Company Limited is working together with the AGF right now, developing the cooperation so that we can have a more precise prediction about the market prices. We are now achieving progress, and now we are seeing tangible results already. So we would like to continue these measures so that we can continue to contribute to customers' well-being through our coffee products in the future.

You just shared with the 3 points. For example, when it comes to frozen food, especially in North America, automation -- automation is now pursued in order for you to drastically reduce your costs. But when it comes to coffee, a slight increase in cost will result in a very tight squeeze of profits. So the medium-term prediction about the market prices is something that I have a question about. But previously, the liquid coffee business was transferred. So do you foresee any drastic measures to improve the performance of coffee? You talked about the 3 measures. Are you going to steadily implement those 3 directions?

Well, what could be a drastic measure for us? We are continuously studying what could become a drastic measure. That is the only comment that I have right now. And I think it will take some more time for us to come up with the answer for that. But we'll try to combine those drastic measures so that the current AGF business can grow further. So from that perspective, I'd like to communicate on a separate occasion, I think, as to our drastic measure.

And my second question relates to your shareholder return program. In 2030 road map -- the -- you would like to focus on EPS and business growth. So you are positive to our share buyback program. So if you can continue to foresee a stable increase in the share price, I think early implementation of share buyback may make sense for you. This time around, you have already announced a JPY 50 billion program for share buyback. So in the future, at which time are you going to execute a share buyback as part of your shareholder returns? So what is your view about your share price right now? If you can elaborate that on your overall view regarding shareholder returns, that would be appreciated.

Well, for shareholder returns, this is continuously a very important topic for the company. And just yesterday, at the BOD meeting and of course, last month -- at the BOD meeting last month, we talked about the capital policy of the company. We have repeatedly discussed our capital policy. In the management committee, we are talking about and learning about the capital policy and talking about how to raise our enterprise value and be aware of the share price in our day-to-day management. The enterprise value formula has already been defined by the company. The capital cost minus the growth rate is the denominator, and denominator will be the cash flow. So in addition to that, speed up and scale up was added on top of that. So that formula is already defined. So how to bring down the capital cost and how to drive the growth rate and also improve the cash generation capability. In that regard, we are implementing many different measures. And I think these measures will take an effect on that. And all the management committee members are learning and studying this in a steadfast fashion. So in that regard, how to reward shareholders through our return policy is going to be a very important theme for us, and we are addressing this as a very important theme for the company. So we would like to come up with things at the right timing, at the right occasion to implement such things that will return the profits on the -- to the hands of the shareholders. So we are addressing this as an important issue for the entire company. So that's what I wanting to share with you today.

Next questions. Sumoge-san, Okasan Securities.

This is Sumoge speaking from Okasan Securities. My first question pertains to the lowering breakeven point. In your presentation, SKU concentration and a collaboration between sales and manufacturing to increase efficiency to lower breakeven point to push up the level of profit. I understand the story. But last night, each business, not only food, has a huge potential of doing so. But in what particular business is there room for improvement? I'm sure you've taken measures to lower breakeven point. But why do you see more room for improvement in terms of lowering breakeven point further? Would you please expound on this matter?

Sumoge-san, thank you very much for the question. I'd like to give you an overview, and it will be expounded on by management -- managers -- each manager. In terms of SKU concentration. During the pandemic, intentionally -- it was not intentional that planned production capacity had to be raised with limited human resources. As a result, we only concentrated on the production of sellable items. So we prioritized the supply side. As a result, when we looked back, it increased the profitability more than anticipated, not only the profit, but the entire profit value was improved. And that was visualized from this lesson. In combination, other competitors are taking measures, and we analyze their moves as well. Sometimes they directly disclose the details, but indirect calculation could actually tell us how much profit increase they enjoyed. So those were the analysis we've conducted earlier. And once -- well, now the pandemic is subsiding, therefore, food and AminoScience and other regions as well as local entities are mindful of concentrating the number of SKUs. And a certain level of activities have been implemented. But company-wide, we need to -- we can accelerate this and delve into the matter. If that's the case for local entities in certain areas, we'd like to drive this or accelerate those initiatives. But cutting down SKUs can actually raise another issue of utilization rate. So product development and new product launches will be intentionally implemented in order to boost the utilization rate. So those are the delicate balance we are trying to achieve, and that could lower the breakeven point quite sizably or quite significantly. Based on our previous experience, we know this. In combination, we'd like to focus on where we'd like to concentrate. So we need to reduce more and some more in order to focus on what we'd like to do, and that's quite effective. There are various ways of doing this and the various initiatives that we'd like to do, but that could actually overwhelm us. And we could actually -- we are sometimes working on things that we can even -- we are capable of. So we need to apply a reasonable thinking here to stop more and reduce more so that we can focus on what we'd like to do and what we'd like to prioritize. So we'd like to stop more and reduce more in order to lower breakeven point. And details will be given by general managers.

This is Masai speaking for Foods. I'd like to expound on the Food business. As Fujie-san mentioned earlier, I'd like to repeat what's being said. In particular, I use the word utilization rate. That is a keyword for me. Because currently, I'm talking about domestic business here. Our main plant is Ajinomoto Food, and this manufacturing division of Ajinomoto Foods covered seasonings as well as foods, and their cover -- this is commonly shared by Seasonings as well as Quick Nourishment and Solution and Ingredients. Those 3 divisions are covered by this one main products -- production location. But this is a cross divisional entity. Therefore, there is a communication issue between business and manufacturing. So there are triple lines of reporting. So this hampers ability to operate the business efficiently. Therefore, we'd like to actually visualize the utilization rate in one go. So from a macro perspective, [ nico ] perspective, we'd like to monitor the utilization rate for these 3 separate lines. And in turn, the negative elements need to be minimized. And this initiative is already underway. In terms of SKU reduction, in line with the SKU reduction, going forward, we'd like to make the management much leaner. This is just one example of Food division. Thank you.

So that said, that said, for each business unit, you're analyzing where -- well, not the case, for example, glutamate profit can be improved so that it has a company-wide effect. Is that right?

Yes, that's right. So let -- setting the product name aside, but overall, there's this common utilization rate being monitored that is -- will be returned to each product line. So for example, seasonings and quick nourishment as well as S&I, we'd like to come a place to generate positive results that can be applied to each 3 divisions. Thank you very much. And Maeda-san, would you like to expound on the matter? Or Sakakura-san, even? If there is anything you'd like to add, please.

Well, on my part, there are many things that we'd like to implement, but the things went good for aminoVITAL. Let me cite an example, successful case, which made a quick significant recovery. So aminoVITAL is actually manufactured at our own facility and also by a third party. And we intentionally divided this because we are a manufacturer, so we own our facility plants. And we entrust production -- part of the production if the items fall under their strengths. So we actually sort things out. And this year, the business was improved quite significantly. The sales is in collaboration with food, we introduced price hike, but we made sure that the volume won't suffer. So the profitability went up quite significantly, and that was a successful case that I wanted to draw your attention. In ASEAN, menu-specific seasonings and others have wide-ranging SKUs. And to address that, profit as well as customer orientation or customer preferences we're taking into account to narrow down on SKUs. And as I mentioned earlier, products related to well-being are launched one after another. And existing SKUs are revisited when new products are launched. For example, in Thai Ajinomoto -- Thailand Ajinomoto, compared to 3 years ago, 100 SKUs are reduced. So overall, the breakeven point is lowered, partly due to SKU reduction.

I understand. Sorry for the long questions, but I'd like to add one additional question. Regarding ABF. This is rather a long-term question. ABF RCC is, well, in the business briefing session, ABF RCC is for smartphones. And you are continuing the research -- the R&D activities in collaboration with customers. But next-generation iPhone material, you can be -- ABF can be adopted. That was a news media report I read the other day. ABF itself is used for CPU and GPU, but not for smartphone application processes. That has been the case. But going forward, what potential does this ABF RCC has going forward?

Thank you very much for the question. So I'd like to turn the baton to Maeda-san.

Well, we are not talking about specific customers or specific product. We are not at the liberty of disclose the nature of customers. But RCC and smartphone and other mini-sized dense products where ABF RCC can be used. So for the small devices, the battery volume is growing and minimizing or squeezing other parts, that's the request from customers. And for upgrades, the battery consist or consumes quite a large amount of volume. So we need to squeeze other parts. For RCC, RCC can be used to miniaturize other parts apart from battery. That is the understanding in the industry. So there are technical barriers to be overcome. Not all of them are addressed right now; however, we have quite a good feeling or feedback. And regarding RCC, which can be adopted in a wider range of applications, then if that's the case, ABF RCC version will be quite useful for customers. And that's a positive feedback we get from customers and we are confirming technical details and also prototyping. Unfortunately, I'm not at a liberty of disclosing any other details here in this forum.

But considering the future potential, not for this year or next year, but what is the timing of possible contribution? And what's the timing of R&D process? At what time can you actually foresee profit growth?

Well, I'm not at the liberty of responding to that specifically. However, we are prototyping right now. And we are working on specifications. Therefore, market launch will be 2 years or 3 years or 4 years from now. That's the usual case. That is my general comment.

Thank you very much, [ Sumoge-san ]. We are very sorry that we still have so many questions, but because we are running out of time, this -- the next will be the last question for today. This will be from Fujiwara-san of Nomura Securities.

This is Fujiwara from Nomura Securities. Thank you very much. So in the interest of time, I would like to limit to only one question regarding the Japanese business. This turnaround domestic food in the B2C area, you are recording a reduction in revenue, but other food manufacturers are now recovering their sales and achieving profit growth. So maybe your ability to predict the future, conducting price hikes were weaker compared to your competition? So looking into next fiscal year, when the cost remains high, I think cost reduction is given priority rather than price hikes. That's what you mentioned. But looking into next fiscal year, I think this is going to be a watershed product, whether the price inflation is going to continue in Japan. So do you think that we are in an environment where the inflation could be permitted in Japan? Or in the distribution sector, the BP reduction could be needed so maybe this inflation environment may not take growth in Japan? So what about your view about the sustainability of this inflationary environment in Japan? What is your view on that looking into the next fiscal year, including your pricing strategy? If you can comment on that, that would be appreciated.

Thank you very much, Fujiwara-san, for the question. First of all, regarding price increases, for the necessary items, we would like to work on maximize cost reduction and at the same time, address price hikes. That is the basic policy for us. And for each product in each category, what will be the right price hike and when that price hike will be implemented, we'll look into the competitor's move and look at the market share, we'll draw a complete overview of that and work on this, and we will continue to work on this going forward. And as Fujiwara-san mentioned, healthy inflation, whether that will take root in Japan, I think that is going to be very important for the Japanese environment. So in that regard, food manufacturers or not only AminoScience, but for the food business generally, we are one of the large companies representing Japan. I think that is the general consensus in the market. So as in that capacity, I myself would like to proactively approach to the external community. And of course, based on the base assumption that we'll make maximum efforts as a company, but would also like to seek price hikes, and we look forward that the society will be able to accommodate such price hikes. And most importantly, we also have to work on wage increases at the same time. So there will be price hikes. But of course, it will be lagged. There will be a time lag, but also will result in wage increases as well. So that this will not diminish the purchasing appetite of the consumer. So we would like to develop a positive cycle, and we are positively communicating this to the external community as well. The wage increases in the next spring, we would like to ensure that the wage increases will be higher than the price increases even by a little margin. And I would like to make efforts towards that end. And of course, many -- I also attend the association meetings of the food industry, and I have to make statements, opening statements and also -- I would also make statements for -- for the toast of such associations. But using all these opportunities, I would like to extend this message to the external community as well. In that regard, consensus building in Japan, Fujiwara-san, I think you are playing a very important role in that regard. So also the analyst, I hope that you also get through these messages at the same time because that will be quite encouraging. Thank you very much for that.

One more comment. Is this understood by the distribution sector? Because I thought the trends are just reverse.

No, those distribution sector, the retail sector are not communicating that proactively, but their performance is improving as a result of the price hikes, although they don't say this out loud, but their performance is also improving. So the price hikes -- actually, the negotiation was difficult at the outset. But recently, if there's a rational reason, they accept the price hikes in many cases. That's what we see from the market. However, the concern is the purchasing power on the part of consumers. So the distributors are also focused on the wage increases in order to maintain the purchasing power. So I think people are accepting this so that this could lead to a positive cycle in the consumption. So I think that is the major trend right now. I think that is the majority trend right now, according to my view.

Okay. So the next one year will be a very important period to decide again?

Yes. Thank you. We'll do our best.

Thank you very much, Fujiwara-san. With this, we would like to finish the Q&A session. And finally, Fujie-san will say the last closing comments.

Well, thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, to attend this meeting despite your busy schedule. We see many precious inputs from you. Many precious advices from you. We are confident about delivering the medium-term growth, but in order to further solidify all your inputs will be a very important point. And of course, for the short term, we have to work properly. I think that's the expectation from the market. So the top leaders and also all the employees will receive your advice and work steadily towards our target. Thank you very much for your attendance today, and we look forward to your continued patronage. Thank you very much.

With this, we would like to finish today's session. Thank you very much to you all for your participation. This will be the end of today's session. Thank you. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]