Our company’s consolidated results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 continued to be affected by measures to curb medical expenses, such as the off-year NHI drug price revisions in April 2023. However, due to continued growth in sales of drugs for cancer treatment and limited-handling products for selected wholesalers, such as specialty pharmaceuticals, as well as changes in the distribution systems of some pharmaceutical manufacturers, net sales were 1,476.7 billion yen (up 6.1% from the same period of the previous year) and operating profit was 19.3 billion yen (up 18.1% from the same period of the previous year), both of which were higher than the previous year.

　In May last year, the Group announced its Medium-Term Management Plan 2023-2025, "Create the Next Generation," which covers three years from the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. Based on the four basic policies : (1) Business transformation, (2)Investment for growth and improvement of profitability, （3）Sustainability management, and （4）Improvement of capital efficiency and enhancement of shareholder returns, we are  implementing  concrete measures through driving alliances, and DX actively. Specifically, we are working on organizational restructuring and reorganization of offices in order to shift to a team system centered on the secondary medical care area in the pharmaceutical wholesaling business, and reorganization of operating companies in the dispensing pharmacy business. We have also promoted collaborations to improve profitability and capital and business alliances with venture companies engaged in research and development in fields where future growth is expected. In addition, in order to accelerate the implementation of these initiatives and enhance their effectiveness, we established the Corporate Strategy Division and the Logistics and Systems Planning Division in March 2024. Furthermore, we have established the Management Strategy Committee as an advisory body to the Board of Directors to discuss and review important management and business strategies and other matters. In order to incorporate diverse perspectives from outside the company, the committee consists of members including outside directors and outside experts. The results of this review by the Management Strategy Committee will be announced in November of this year.

　To improve capital efficiency, we implemented share buybacks of 6 billion yen each for a total of 12 billion yen and cancelled all of the 6 billion yen of treasury shares repurchased the second time. In addition, we have decided to pay an annual dividend of 40 yen (including a commemorative dividend of 4 yen) to meet our DOE target of 2%. We plan to pay an annual dividend of 50 yen for the fiscal year ending March 2025.

　We will continue to meet the expectations of all our stakeholders and strive to be a company that is needed by society even in the next generation.