Sumitomo Metals aims to be of service to the society by achieving a sustained growth in corporate value with a long-term perspective. We would like to be a company that gains the trust of all its stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, business partners, local communities, and our employees.

We promote strategies of "accelerating distinctiveness" and "adding strength to strength," so that we are designated by our customers to supply products they need, based on our outstanding technological advantages. This is our way of contributing to society.

The driving forces to realize such corporate policy are our employees and technology, which we call "intangible assets," and our steel works and worksites, which are "tangible assets." We fully utilize both of these assets and raise long-term sustained corporate value.

We are studying toward the merger with Nippon Steel to raise our value more quickly. Both companies share the common belief of “contributing to society through steelmaking.” We also share the realization that we will be a globally competitive steelmaker by combining the strengths of both companies. Through the merger, we will globalize faster while enhancing technology and cost competitiveness, and become "the Best Steelmaker with World-Leading Capabilities."

The cash outflow related to the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 is around 100 billion yen including losses caused by the disaster and investments to replace damaged facilities. We plan to replenish more than half of that outflow within fiscal 2011.

Regarding a capital policy, our principle is to pay stable dividends to ensure stable return to our shareholders with long-term perspectives. Our dividend payment for fiscal 2010, however, was 3.5 yen per share (decrease by 1.5 yen compared with the previous fiscal year) as we have placed a priority on the recovery of our facilities that were damaged by the Earthquake and minimizing financial damage. For fiscal 2011, we forecast an interim dividend of 1.0 yen per share and year-end dividend of 2.5 yen per share. We will try to recover the financial damage caused by the Earthquake at the earliest possible, aiming for a stable dividend.

We conduct a wide range of investor relations activities, so that shareholders and other investors can understand actual conditions, practices, and challenges of the company.

We supply corporate information needed for investment decision-making in a timely and accurate manner. We hold result briefings, business briefings, and plant tours for institutional investors. We also began briefings for individual shareholders in 2009, in addition to tours to our steel works and workplaces and invitations to Kashima Antlers’ professional J League soccer games.