I would like to report on the business performance for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2026.

During this period, the domestic manufacturing sector faced a sluggish business environment, reflecting the turmoil surrounding U.S. tariff policies as well as delays in the recovery of capital investment and the semiconductor market both in Japan and overseas.

In this operating environment, while securing earnings, the Group implemented forward-looking M&A and developed and enhanced its production bases, based on the perspective of “striving to create new value to achieve the highest satisfaction of stakeholders” set forth in the medium-term business plan “New Frontier 2026” (NF2026), of which we are in the second year.

As for our results in the first half, sales fell below the level of the same period of the previous year, due to delayed demand recovery from certain customers and the impact of the sale of our silicon wafer reclaim business at the end of the previous fiscal year. However, thanks to our efforts to improve profitability, both operating income and net income increased year on year.

Looking ahead to the second half, although there remain numerous risk factors that could significantly affect our business environment, we aim to capture the recovery in demand within tech market accurately. In machinery and plant markets, we will continue to take on the challenge of creating new value by leveraging our technological capabilities and proposal strengths, and we expect to make steady progress even amid changing market conditions.

We will continue to do our utmost to meet the expectations of all our stakeholders.