To our shareholders, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your continued support.

Since our establishment in 1949 as a sales company for cement, ironware, and construction materials, we have developed our business as a specialized trading company handling everything from the sale of steel and construction materials to contracted construction work.
Guided by our basic strategy for increasing our sales area and growing our market share, we have been working hard to improve our business performance while also contributing to society and returning profits to our shareholders.
Going forward, we intend to drive further growth by responding to challenges that include a shrinking market due to the population decline, changes in social conditions such as the uneven distribution of demand due to the concentration of demand in urban areas, and an acceleration in the restructuring of the steel distribution industry.

Our medium- to long-term strategy is to:

Expand distribution sites

We will build additional distribution centers, which will help us shorten delivery times by increasing the sales area and shorten distances for distribution. We will also add to the number of products in stock by building new distribution centers, add processing plants, boost the range of processed goods, enable high-value-added processing, and look for stable earnings regardless of conditions in the steel market.

Boost contracted construction work

Contracted work for construction companies has grown over the years. Looking ahead, we intend to keep up with this momentum through more business and a greater range of businesses by creating a network with manufacturers and construction subcontractors. To build out this network, we plan to reinforce our management framework for construction and to support employees wanting to attain qualifications as construction managers.

Investing in human resources

To drive sustainable growth in business, we hire 20 to 30 new graduates every year and recruit people with specialized skills. We have begun a training program to help improve the quality of all employees and we have beefed up our incentive system for obtaining qualifications. In addition, we actively encourage the employment of the elderly and the disabled to create a comfortable and rewarding work environment.

Using these strategies, we go all-out to consistently create new value with the objective of boosting our business performance.

The operating environment has changed at an unprecedented speed in recent years, with new technologies emerging in diverse fields having a profound effect on people's lives without the end user even noticing. This has led to new opportunities as well as a wide array of risks.
Given this background, we will push forward with restructuring to become a company that can respond swiftly to change.
We are also implementing strategies for more effective growth, such as adopting new technologies, bolstering our internal information system to ensure more centralized, easy-to-use information, and shifting to a paperless environment to accelerate decision-making and ensure smoother operations.

Moving ahead, we intend to add to our market “footprint” in a wide range of fields, while at the same time making improvements to the work environment and building a framework that enables us to make the most of the Company's comprehensive strengths with optimal efficiency.

We ask your continued support as we forge ahead.

Ken Ono, President