1）Secure a competitive advantage through technology initiatives

With our three core technologies (1. Pigment Synthesis and Surface Treatment Technology, 2. Formulation and Dispersion Processing Technology, 3. Polymer Synthesis Technology) as an important foundation, we evaluate market size, profitability, and growth potential.
We have identified the focus for our development efforts in two new growth areas: (1) Functional Materials for IT and Electronics and (2) Life Science & Personal Care and in, (3) Mobility, where the theme is a further shift toward environmentally conscious products and (4) Environmentally Friendly Packaging for the continuous growth areas. We are actively investing in human assets, equipment, and capital to build a structure to secure a competitive advantage through technology initiatives.

Under our current medium-term management plan, we are working toward the target of increasing sales of technology-driven new development products by 2.6 billion yen by FY2027 compared to FY2024. By the end of the first year, FY2025, progress on individual development themes was generally on track, with sales increasing by 0.7 billion yen.
While it takes a certain amount of time for newly developed products to contribute to sales, we will continue to aim for their early contribution to sales.

2）Expand overseas business to strengthen business foundation

We are working toward the target of increasing overseas sales revenue by 3.6 billion yen by FY2027 compared to FY2024. As of March 31, 2025, the end of the first year, sales had increased by 2.0 billion yen (excluding currency effects). While production volumes remained sluggish in China, primarily for home appliances, office automation equipment, and the transportation industry, performance outside China was strong due to market recovery and the effects of price adjustments. We will continue to focus on proactive business development, centered on promoting “local production for local consumption,” expanding overseas bases, and creating new businesses.

3）Promote ESG-focused management to realize a sustainable society

We are working toward the target of increasing sales of sustainable products by 3.0 billion yen by FY2027 compared to FY2024.
By the end of the first year, March 2025, we established an internal framework aimed at swiftly commercializing products by accurately linking customer and market needs to technology development themes to achieve this goal. However, sales of sustainable products, predominantly in the information electronics materials and automotive-related product groups, increased by only 0.5 billion yen compared to FY2024. This was due to the impact of economic slowdowns in key markets, including China, on automotive-related products.

4）Promote HR strategy and DX

HR strategy

Recognizing the need to translate management policies and strategies into frontline employee goals based on our internal engagement survey results, we scheduled and executed roundtable discussions during FY2025. These sessions involved Directors visiting locations nationwide to engage directly with employees, enabling mutual sharing of expectations between management and staff. We will continue these roundtable discussions going forward, increasing opportunities for more employees to engage directly with Directors.
In April 2025, we introduced a new personnel system. Within the performance evaluation framework, we established job descriptions (JDs) to ensure clarity and fairness, foster evaluations that are convincing, lead to growth, and promote psychological safety. By becoming a more attractive company, we expect to enhance engagement, cultivate human asset and achieve innovation.
In terms of our target for improving engagement, we set a target engagement score of 59% for FY2027. The actual score for FY2025 was 56.2%.

DX promotion

We have enhanced IT tools for office work and begun utilizing generative AI, thereby improving operational efficiency.
Our specific measures for the future are as follows. In the area of marketing, we will build market needs into a database across all departments and connect these needs with our technologies to develop new opportunities. In the area of technology development, we will compile cross-functional databases of raw materials used and development information, which we will combine and use in shortening development periods through Materials Informatics (MI). In the area of production, we will reduce the burden on the production floor while compiling and visualizing data, thereby increasing production efficiency by improving early anomaly detection rates. Additionally, we will further strengthen the foundation of our digital human assets by efficiently conducting training to improve digital literacy and AI utilization, as well as on-the-job training (OJT) in data analysis.

5）Implement capital-efficiency-oriented management

For FY2027, the final year of our current medium-term management plan, we set targets of 5% for ROE (revised upward in May 2025) and 4.3% for ROA. However, for FY2025, the first year of the plan, we achieved ROE of 8.4% and ROA of 4.0%.
This was primarily due to the recognition of approximately 7.7 billion yen in extraordinary income from the sale of Non-current assets associated with the disposal of the site of our former Kawaguchi Production Plant in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture. However, from a performance perspective, while raw material prices continue to rise, the prolonged inventory adjustments across the supply chain following the stay-at-home demand during the COVID-19 pandemic have finally concluded. This has also contributed to the improvement in the business environment surrounding our company.

Related Link

• IR and Medium-Term Management Plan materials (Japanese only except for some materials)