Thank you for your continued support of our business activities. The Nihon Parkerizing Group has developed numerous innovative technologies by advancing and deepening our original technology to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers. The Group will endeavor to continuously improve its technological capabilities to provide high-quality products and services worldwide and actively seek solutions to social issues, including reducing the environmental load.

In 2028, Nihon Parkerizing will celebrate the centenary of the company's founding. Over this period, the company has faced many difficulties and has surmounted them individually. Our company's business environment is uncertain and opaque, and it is not easy to see where we are going. However, these are the very times when we must remain calm and actively promote the development of technologies and applications related to the decarbonized society that will arrive in the near future. One of these initiatives is the completion of our new Central Research Laboratories, scheduled to open in December 2024.

Regarding the consolidated business results for the period ending March 2024, the second year of our fourth mid-term management plan, net sales for this period were 125 billion yen (a 5.9 billion yen increase compared to the previous period or a 5% increase). Operating income was 15.2 billion yen (a 2.5 billion yen increase from the previous period or a 20% increase). This sales and profit increases led to a recovery in global automotive output due to the mitigation of supply shortages of semiconductors and parts at our key customers in the automotive industry and the revision of sales prices in response to the weakening of the yen and soaring raw materials prices.

Concerning the economic outlook for Japan in FY2024 and globally, the outlook will remain uncertain due to a number of risk factors, such as high materials and energy prices, continued inflationary pressures, and concerns about an economic downturn due to global monetary tightening. In Japan, the economy is expected to recover moderately as equipment investment increases following improvements in corporate profits. Overseas, the U.S. economy remains strong, and while there are concerns about a slowdown in China, we expect economic growth to continue, as led by India in the Asian region.

In such a business environment, the Nihon Parkerizing Group's forecasts for consolidated financial results for the coming period are an increase in sales, operating income, and ordinary income over the previous year based on a recovery in equipment investment and a continued weak yen. This financial year is the final year of our fourth mid-term management plan. If we achieve the results mentioned above as anticipated, we will reach the plan's targets throughout the period. In the fifth mid-term management plan that we are currently formulating, we are preparing specific measures with the awareness that a company must satisfy the long-term expectations of its stakeholders to survive.

In connection with returning profits to investors, our basic policy is to continue to provide stable dividends, and for the foreseeable future, we will pay dividends that exceed this policy. We will flexibly consider share buybacks to improve capital efficiency or ROE.

The Nihon Parkerizing Group, as the leading company in the field of surface modifications, will continue to strengthen its research and development organization and create innovative new technology while promoting sustainable management, sustainable growth, and an increase in corporate value in the mid to long term.