Shareholder and Investor Engagement

Basic Policy on Shareholder and Investor Engagement

1. We are committed to ensuring fair disclosure of information and maintaining continuous engagement with shareholders and investors worldwide, thereby fostering trust-based relationships with them and eliminating information asymmetry.
2. We strive to understand our shareholder structure to ensure constructive engagement with shareholders and investors, while taking the utmost care to prevent the leakage of insider information during these engagements.
3. At our company, shareholder and investor engagement is led by the Representative Executive Officers & Co-Presidents, as well as the General Manager of Investor Relations. Additionally, Independent Directors also participate in engagement sessions.
4. At our company, we provide feedback and opinions, as well as points of concern and suggestions raised by shareholders and investors through engagement, to the Board of Directors, as appropriate, and incorporate them into corporate management. Additionally, we leverage input from Directors, including Independent Directors, to enhance our engagement with shareholders and investors.

Our Structure for Engagement with Shareholders and Investors

At our company, we engage in investor relations activities, shareholder relations activities, statutory disclosures, timely disclosures, and important voluntary disclosures through close collaboration between the management team, led by the Representative Executive Officers and Co-Presidents, and the General Managers of relevant departments listed below.

• Investor Relations
• Public Relations
• Finance & Accounting
• Corporate Governance
• Other relevant departments

Shareholder and Investor Engagement

We pursue Maximization of Shareholder Value (MSV) by fostering shareholders’ and investors’ understanding of our commitment to maximizing EPS through communication with the capital markets, including ensuring fair disclosure of information to shareholders and investors worldwide and maintaining continuous engagement with them. These efforts aim to elevate expectations for our growth potential, eliminate information asymmetry, reduce capital costs, and ultimately maximize PER. To foster constructive engagement with shareholders and investors, we also strive to understand our shareholder structure while taking the utmost care to prevent the leakage of insider information.

In FY2024, we further strengthened communication with shareholders and investors, conducting IR meetings with 806 firms (a 14.0% increase year-on-year). These efforts aimed to facilitate and deepen understanding of our unique corporate story, which seamlessly connects our Asset Assembler model—distinct from traditional business companies—with our autonomous and decentralized management structure and growth strategies to secure high growth. In terms of IR events, we held an investor briefing in April, where Co-President Wakatsuki presented our Medium-Term Strategy. The briefing focused on reviewing the advantages of our Asset Assembler model and highlighting Sustainable EPS Compounding through both organic and inorganic initiatives. In December, we hosted our inaugural IR DAY 2024, which brought together our conventional small investor meetings with the Co-Presidents and Independent Directors. The event featured presentations on Brand Strategy by DuluxGroup and by NIPSEA Group, NIPSEA Group Business Strategy, and Governance.

Additionally, we have continued to focus on the proactive disclosure of information through numerous measures, including the reinforcement and enhancement of our Integrated Report and IR website.

IR events held (times)

Number of IR meetings held (firms)