Q&A of Financial Results for the Year Ended March 31, 2020
Disclaimer
This document (A Selection of Questions and Answers) is not a verbatim transcript of the questions and answers that took place at the presentation as of May 28, 2020. Rather, the company has exercised its discretion in providing a summary for those who did not participate.
Also, forward-looking statements, such as performance forecasts and the like, provided in these materials are based on certain assumptions and may differ significantly from actual business results as a result of a variety of factors.
Imaging Products Business
In April, sales volumes of digital camera-Interchangeable lens type were down about 80% YoY. In May, China led other regions as volumes recovered to about 30% lower than last year. However, levels remain depressed in other regions. On the procurement side, things remained challenging through April, but have improved significantly more recently. In Asia including parts of China, disruptions persist. Meanwhile, we have reduced production volumes and therefore have been able to procure enough components to keep up with production.
To the extent the current situation continues, we recognize the initial plan will not suffice. Amid an unclear outlook, we are studying additional measures for a number of scenarios, based on a variety of assumptions about the economy and potential changes to consumer values. We have already begun preparing additional measures and plan to execute as appropriate as we discern market trends.
The ¥5.0B was a maximum amount, in the event measures to be implemented in FY2021/3 were all implemented within FY2020/3. The ¥2.7B result was close to our initial plan. The restructuring is progressing mostly in line with plan.
Precision Equipment Business
Restrictions on movement have been a major impediment that has impacted shipments and installations in FPD Lithography Business in particular. Some sales may get pushed out into FY2022/3. Furthermore, there is a possible delay for our customers' plants to receive our systems. Therefore, we are taking a harsh view about the business outlook.
Yes, those systems will be pushed out into FY2022/3.
Even after EUVL is adopted, we currently expect the market size for ArF immersion lithography systems, including for 7 nm nodes, to be about 100 units, give or take. Meanwhile, mask volumes should decline as existing multi-patterning lithography is migrated over to single-pattern EUVL.
Overall
In Imaging Products Business, where we have built out our manufacturing sites mainly in Southeast Asia, we plan to hedge risks and diversify geographically, based on the existing structure. In the BtoB businesses such as Precision Equipment Business, the majority of our tier 1 suppliers are in Japan. Therefore, we see little need to review this structure significantly.
We believe there is demand in society over the long run in the 3 growth areas we identify in our Medium-Term Management Plan. Social distancing will greatly impact facets of society where people come in contact with each other and will trigger a paradigm shift in manufacturing. We will propose solutions where vision systems monitor distancing with people and collaborative robots assist services directed at people, such as nursing care.
In the field of medicine, we will be involved in the manufacture of a MultiStem®, a cell therapy treatment, currently being evaluated in a clinical trial of ischemic stroke in Japan, concerning to increase among COVID-19 patients.
In Imaging Products Business, we are targeting business costs reduction and in Others, improvement of headquarter efficiency as cost reduction. Moving forward, we will continue to pursue both avenues.
There is no change to our plan to achieve greater efficiencies in headquarter and reduction in procurement cost within the timeframe of the Medium-Term Management Plan. In the first year of the plan (FY2020/3), results progressed slightly ahead of plan. That said, however, declining volumes in Imaging Products Business have led to concerns about future efforts to reduce procurement costs. We will look to achieve the ¥18.0B target through additional measures aimed at logistic reform, for example.
The result for FY2020/3 was approx. ¥19.8B, reduction of about 1/3, primarily in Imaging Products Business, compared to the approx. ¥30.0B used in FY2019/3.
Page 26 of the presentation discusses capital allocation. There is no change to our policy of deploying up to 40% of capital into strategic investments and 10% or more into shareholder returns. Unfortunately, the decline in capital available for distribution has made it difficult to sustain an annual dividend of ¥60.0 per share. Nevertheless, we maintain our policy with total return ratio of 40% or more.
We expect free cash flow to decrease due to the impacts of COVID-19 and the continuing decline in revenue in Imaging Products Business, in particular. We have cash on hand for at least 6 months of operations, so there is little concern about funding operations.