Overview of the latest financial information

With regard to the global economy during the nine months ended the end of the third quarter of this consolidated fiscal year, there continued to be a gentle slowdown due to a decrease in domestic demand due to monetary tightening related to inflation caused by prices of raw materials and energy remaining high, as well as a stagnation of the economy of China, where there are issues regarding real estate and other matters.

In Japan, there was an upturn in economic activity due to the loosening of movement restrictions related to COVID-19 and recovery in capital investment and individual consumption. However, the economic outlook remains unpredictable due to the prolonged situation in Ukraine and rising prices.

Under this economic situation, the group’s Equipment Business continued to show growth. Electrical and Electronic Components Business and Automotive Components Business, which were sluggish, are also on recovery trends.

The group’s Electrical and Electronic Components Business saw a recovery in the third quarter, but sales decreased year on year, affected by the slump in the first half of the year. Connectors for laptops continued to be on a recovery trend since the second quarter, and sales remain strong. As for HDD-related components, as a result of investments by IT companies into data centers remaining sluggish, a large improvement in demand for large-capacity HDD components was not seen. Profits, although improving recently, decreased year on year, influenced by a decrease in sales of high-value-added products, the resulting sluggish factory utilization rates, and other factors.

With regard to Automotive Components Business, the shortage of automotive semiconductors continues to be resolved, and sales increased as a result of a recovery in production activities of automobile manufacturers. Sales has increased year on year, with the demand remaining strong for connectors for LED headlights and sensors for air bags, brakes, and other safety driving systems. The profit level is on a recovery trend as a result of an increase in sales and of profit improvement activities.

With regard to Equipment Business, while the semiconductor memory market was sluggish due to a slowdown in demand for smartphones and other digital devices, semiconductor sealing equipment for automobile semiconductors and power semiconductors remained strong, and thus the impact of the market slowdown remained limited. The profit level remained steady, with an improvement in production efficiency and strong sales of high-added-value facilities and spare parts contributing to it.

As a result, sales of the third quarter of the current consolidated fiscal year decreased 5.3 % to 43,128 million yen, compared with the prior year, also our operating loss 609 million yen (We had operating income of 2,230 million yen prior year), ordinary income decreased 98.4% to 65 million yen, and net loss attributable to owners of parent was 427 million yen (We had net income attributable to owners of parent 2,342 million yen prior year.).