Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to welcome the New Year with you under such clear skies.
However, I am deeply saddened by two heartbreaking news in Japan at the beginning of this year. On the evening of New Year’s Day, the Noto Peninsula Earthquake occurred just as people were celebrating the New Year. Unfortunately, many people have lost their lives, and some are still missing. Those affected by the disaster are forced to live in evacuation centers.
On January 2, two airplanes collided at Japan’s Haneda Airport. While all passengers and crew on the commercial airline were safe, it is tragic that five crew members on the Japan Coast Guard aircraft died, who were scheduled to deliver relief supplies to support the areas affected by the earthquake.
Therefore, I will not use “happy” in my New Year’s greetings. I would like to express my deepest sympathies to all those in the disaster-stricken areas and pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives. I sincerely wish for the earliest possible recovery and reconstruction.

On the first business day of the year, I want to say a few words.

While COVID-19 has finally begun to wind down, global trends are becoming increasingly confusing. The situation is more than just “heightened geopolitical risk,” with the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict, the battle between Israel and Hamas, and the Houthis’ threats against merchant vessels off the coast of Yemen. Divisions are occurring everywhere worldwide, and the international order established since the end of the Cold War is no longer sustainable. When the term “economic security” is heard in many countries, we cannot make an immediate decision about the position of the NYK Group, which is expanding its business worldwide. However, let us keep our antennae up and try to find the essence of the situation.
Many elections are scheduled this year, with major elections in 45 countries, including emerging economies. Those that are likely to affect Japan and the NYK Group are Taiwan’s presidential election in January, the Russian presidential election in March, the general elections in South Korea in April, the first European Parliament election after Brexit in June, and the US presidential election in November, all of which require close attention. In any case, we pray for peaceful days ahead when people worldwide will be happy with the values we offer.

This April marks the second year of our medium-term management plan, which we announced in March last year. We held town hall meetings in North America, Europe, and Asia, including India, where I explained the outline of the medium-term plan and answered questions. In Japan, the Management Planning Headquarters is taking the leadership in holding briefing sessions by the executive officers who were involved in preparing the medium-term plan at each headquarters and division. At the recent NYK Group Global Week, we had a workshop and a discussion on the medium-term plan, and I answered questions from the participants. I believe the Group’s employees now better understand our direction and what ABCDE-X intends to achieve.
Furthermore, last November, we announced the NYK Group ESG Story 2023 and the NYK Group Decarbonization Story, setting higher decarbonization targets and explaining what we need to do to achieve them, along with a concrete path to implementing ESG management. In particular, the interim GHG emission reduction target of 45% by 2030 for Scope 1-2 combined is quite challenging compared to the previous target of 30%. Rather than achieving 30% by accumulating what we can do and what we think we can do, we will work based on the opposite concept: we will list what we must do to achieve the 45% target and implement it one by one. Let’s transcend the boundaries between the sales, operations, and administrative divisions and work together with the mindset that each of us must think about our tasks, add them to the list, no matter how small they are, and make them happen.
Also, I want you to identify where your business challenges and initiatives, not limited to decarbonization, are related to the five transformations from AX to EX outlined in the medium-term plan. This way, you will be able to recognize your contribution more clearly.

Next is the consolidated earnings forecast for fiscal 2023. At present, we are projecting a recurring profit of ¥235.0 billion. Although it seems to be a significant decrease from the trillion yen recurring profit of the past two years, it is ¥35.0 billion higher than the ¥200.0 billion forecast at the beginning of the fiscal year. If this trend continues, it will be the third-best performance in our history. This result is only possible because each of you did your best in your position, and I thank you all for your contributions.

Finally, I wish all NYK Group employees and their families health and safety, as well as the steady growth of the NYK Group, without any accidents.

* Fiscal Highlights for the 2nd Quarter, ended September 30, 2023 (QR) 231106_tanshin_en.pdf