1. Please explain how the Q3 results came in compared to the forecast.

Q3 results were slightly below the forecasts announced in October. While demand for high-end laptop PCs and LCD tablets increased, order declines in automotive materials within Industrial Tape and order delays in CDMO business within Human Life resulted in overall sales performance to come in below our forecast. Additionally, although we recorded impairment losses, etc. in Q3 as a result of reviewing the business plan for Nitto Bend Technologies, Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of the Group, and discontinuing the commercialization of plastic optical fiber cables, this impact was almost entirely offset with the weaker than expected yen against the U.S. dollar.

2. Please explain the reasons behind the upward revision of the full-year forecast.

Although Q3 results were slightly below forecasts, we have revised the full-year forecast upward to reflect the continued strong demand for optical films used in IT devices and automotive displays in Information Fine Materials, and to account for the yen weakening further than our expectation against the U.S. dollar.

3. Please explain the current full-year forecast for the mainstay products within Optronics and their demand forecast for the next fiscal year.

In Information Fine Materials, demand for optical films and transparent conductive films (ITO) used in LCD tablets increased significantly and we expect this demand to continue into the next fiscal year. While the number of global automotive unit production remains sluggish, the strong demand in optical films for automotive displays is expected to continue into the next fiscal year from the expansion in automotive display size and increase in the number of displays. Demand for Chinese smartphones has slightly slowed down and we will continue to monitor future demand trends. In Circuit Materials, demand for CIS used in data centers has been strong and we expect this demand trend to continue into the next fiscal year as well.

4. Please explain the outlook for recovery of the CDMO business in Life Science.

Although orders tended to be behind schedule in the current fiscal year, we will focus on catching up with delayed projects and acquiring new projects going forward into the next fiscal year.

5. Please explain the current demand for the mainstay products within Industrial Tape and their demand forecasts for the next fiscal year.

In electronics, for assembly materials used in high-end smartphones, in addition to the expansion of models adopting our existing materials, we have launched our new electrical release tapes used for fixing batteries in place this fiscal year and expect further expansion of model adopting these products for the next fiscal year. In process materials used in the production of semiconductors, the recovery of demand for memories has been slower than expected, and we will closely monitor the timing of a full-scale recovery going forward. Demand for automotive materials has been depressed due to the sluggish number of automotive unit production and we are assuming that it will take some time for a recovery to take place.

6. Please explain your approach to shareholder returns and cash allocation.

Although our approach to shareholders returns remains unchanged, after comprehensively reviewing the use of cash going forward and the upward revision of the full-year forecast, we have decided to announce a share buyback of up to 80 billion yen. While our focus on growth investments and shareholder returns for cash allocation remains the same as before, we expect an improvement in the total payout ratio from the current fiscal year onwards while preserving financial soundness.