2023.01.01information
2023 New Year’s Message
Happy New Year to all of you.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your support and patronage during the past year.
2022 was a year in which we saw a resumption of various socioeconomic activities despite waves of COVID-19 infections. However, economic activities have not gained momentum yet, and the world continues to face the impact of the prolonged shortage of semiconductors and components, the prolonged invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the resulting high raw material prices and depreciation of the yen. The SUMINOE GROUP has also been significantly affected by these impacts. However, in order to achieve the final target of ¥100 billion in net sales and at least 5% operating margin of our medium- to long-term management targets “SUMINOE GROUP WAY 2022–2024–2027 (SGW),” which began in the fiscal year ended May 2022, we have been implementing measures to maximize corporate value, such as strengthening existing businesses and promoting corporate branding.
[Strengthening Existing Businesses]
Based on the policy of the SGW, we are implementing measures to strengthen our existing businesses. Last year, we issued the Group’s first Integrated Report, in which we describe the measures for each business. The English report will be published this spring, so please have a look.
In addition, we are actively conducting capital investments and M&As to expand our existing businesses and business scale. Last year, two companies joined the SUMINOE GROUP: PRETERIOR-TEXTILE Inc., a distributor of interior products, in the Interior Fittings business, and Seki Textile Co., Ltd., a company that produces and sells interior fabrics for railway cars, automobiles, and buses, in the Traffic Facilities business. In the Automotive Textiles business, we have decided to establish a new production line for synthetic leather at a Mexican subsidiary as part of our steady efforts in sowing seeds for the future.
The SUMINOE GROUP, including the two new group companies, will continue to reinforce existing businesses while generating synergies across the Group.
[Promoting Corporate Branding]
In 2023, the SUMINOE GROUP will commemorate the 140th anniversary of its founding. Last year, we launched the “Shin Mirai Project”, a corporate branding initiative that reaffirms the Group’s values and aims to achieve sustainable corporate growth and employee happiness. By reviewing the “purpose” (the meaning of the company’s existence), which is the emotional support of employees, and strengthening inner branding, we aim to be a company that can sympathize more than ever with all of our stakeholders, including consumers and investors.
We will strive to maximize our corporate value by leveraging the collective strengths of the SUMINOE GROUP, which will be achieved by combining the traditions we have cultivated to date and a new power with which we will carve out the future. We thank you for your continued support.
Teppei Nagata
President
Suminoe Textile Co., Ltd.