Presentation Transcripts

These graphs show annual net sales and operating income for the machined components business segment. Net sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 totaled 163.8 billion yen, up 5.2% from the previous fiscal year. Operating income increased 2.9% to reach 40.9 billion yen. The operating margin dipped 0.6 percentage points to reach 24.9%.
Ball bearing net sales were up 11.3% year on year at 97.4 billion yen. During the fiscal year demand remained upbeat for high-end consumer product applications, including automobiles, fan motors, etc., and the external shipment volume rose 7% to reach 155 million units per month on average. Profits also increased and, while we expect sales to shrink due to the stronger yen for the fiscal year ending March 2017, profits are expected to climb again with steadily growing external demand.
While steadily increasing commercial aircraft production pushed sales of rod-ends and fasteners up 5.6% year on year to total 32.1 billion yen, profits remained flat. We estimate that the weaker U.S. dollar will bring sales and profits down for the fiscal year ending March 2017 despite better market conditions and an expected boost in productivity.
Sales of HDD pivot assemblies fell 9.5% year on year to total 34.3 billion yen. This drop primarily occurred because the HDD market, to which we supply more than 70% of all HDD pivot assemblies, shrunk nearly 20% year on year due mainly to the decline in demand for personal computers. While we have leveraged our overwhelming market share to cut costs, we project lower sales and profits for the fiscal year ending March 2017 with declining PC sales continuing to diminish the HDD market.