Declining demand and reduced business activity due to the spread of COVID-19

「During the fiscal year, Japan's economy saw continued progress toward social and economic normalization, and corporate performance followed a moderate recovery trend. However, the domestic economy remains unpredictable due to rising prices, foreign exchange volatility, the lifting of negative interest rates, and other factors.」

「During the nine months ended Q3, Japan's economy was seeing progress toward normalizing social and economic activity following the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Category 5 disease, while」

「During the six months ended Q2, Japan's economy showed signs of a moderate recovery in economic activity, partly because COVID-19 was reclassified under the Infectious Diseases Control Law from Category 2 to Category 5 in May 2023.」

「Restrictions on social and economic activity caused by COVID-19 were almost completely lifted, and the economy maintained a moderate recovery trend, led by domestic demand.」

「Regarding the future business environment, the negative effects of COVID-19 are subsiding, but the Company expects the impact to continue from higher prices for resin raw materials due to the surge in crude oil prices since the previous fiscal year, disruption to the global economy caused by the situation involving Russia and Ukraine, longer delivery times for electrical components due to semiconductor shortages, and global logistics disruptions. The outlook is therefore expected to remain uncertain.」

「In the maintenance business, the continuing impact of COVID-19 since the previous fiscal year and international logistics disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine prevented the arrival of parts that needed to be procured, and revenue declined from the same quarter of the previous year. As a result, revenue was ¥276 million, down 12.7% year on year.」

「During the six months ended Q2, Japan's economy saw a renewed spread of infections, with the number of new COVID-19 cases reaching a record high due to the seventh wave. However, the country was moving toward living with COVID-19, including a review of the system for tracking all cases of new infections.」

「In the maintenance business, the continuing impact of COVID-19 since the previous fiscal year and international logistics disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine prevented the arrival of parts that needed to be procured, and revenue declined from the same quarter of the previous year. As a result, revenue was ¥96 million, down 6.8% year on year.」

「During the fiscal year, the suppression of customer capital investment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, as well as higher crude oil prices, contributed in part to the decline in revenue from the initially planned level.」

「The risk of a renewed spread of infections, including from the emergence of new variants, has not been eliminated, and the situation remained uncertain, with signs of a pause in the recovery of capital investment.」

「Under these circumstances, although the recording of sales of molding machines proceeded smoothly as scheduled during the six months ended Q2, net sales declined from the same quarter of the previous year as order intake remained weak due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, resulting in declines in operating income, ordinary income, and net income for the quarter.」

「Under these circumstances, although the recording of sales of molding machines proceeded smoothly as scheduled during the three months ended Q1, net sales declined from the same quarter of the previous year as order intake remained weak due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, resulting in declines in operating income and ordinary income.」

「During the fiscal year, restrictions on customers' capital investment due to COVID-19 and the stagnation of sales activities in response to an extraordinary shareholders meeting were among the factors contributing to the decline in net sales.」

「Although gradual efforts to reopen economic activity had been observed in Japan and overseas, the uncertain situation continues, with the impact on future economic activity impossible to predict as the number of new COVID-19 cases has again begun to increase explosively.」

「During the cumulative second quarter, economic activity in Japan continued to stagnate due to COVID-19. As the influenza season approached, concerns arose over the impact of a third wave on the economy, and the economic outlook remained uncertain.」

「Although the outlook initially appeared brighter following the lifting of the government's state of emergency declaration related to COVID-19, signs of a renewed spread of infections have become pronounced. In addition to the impact on domestic and overseas economies, the outlook is extremely uncertain due to trends in overseas economies, including US-China trade issues, and volatility in the financial and capital markets.」

「Regarding the future business environment, economic activity had been significantly restricted by the declaration of a state of emergency by the Japanese government and requests to refrain from going out and restrictions on movement due to the spread of COVID-19. Although economic activity is expected to gradually recover following the lifting of the declaration, the outlook remains difficult to predict.」