Shareholder return strategy: No. 1<3562> changed its shareholder return policy along with the publication of the new mid-term management plan "Evolution 2027" and showed the direction of significantly strengthening shareholder return. So far, we have aimed for stable dividends (30% dividend payout ratio as a guide), but in the future, we plan to implement stable and continuous shareholder dividends based on a policy of aiming for a 30% dividend payout ratio, regardless of changes in annual performance. A notable feature is that we have set a minimum dividend of the previous year's annual dividend per share and will continue to increase dividends, which is a significant enhancement of shareholder return and can also be evaluated as a expression of confidence in profit growth. Moreover, we have a policy of "flexibly implementing under financial discipline" for acquiring our own shares, showing a more proactive stance.* *Considering the gap between our own perception of the stock price and the market evaluation, ROE, capital efficiency, and CF level, we have a policy of implementing it flexibly. Dividends for the fiscal year ending February 2024 will increase by 1 yen from the previous year, as expected at the beginning of the period, to 33 yen per share (mid-term dividend of 16.5 yen and year-end dividend of 16.5 yen). We also acquired 340,000 shares of our own stock (with a purchase price of 397 million yen). Despite the anticipated decline in profits for the fiscal year ending February 2025, we are expected to follow the policy of increasing dividends every period and issue a dividend of 1 yen per share (a commemorative dividend for the 35th anniversary of our founding), with an expected increase of 2 yen from the previous year to 35 yen per share (mid-term dividend of 17.5 yen and year-end dividend of 17.5 yen).

PacificNet <3021> considers medium-term stable growth as the most important management goal and aims to steadily expand profit distribution to shareholders. Regarding dividend amount, in order to clarify the policy of strengthening profit distribution and stable dividends, it has introduced the Net Asset Dividend Payout Ratio (DOE) from the fiscal year ending in May 2021, setting a target of a dividend payout ratio of 30% or more and a DOE of 5% or more.

Dividend payout ratio is a common indicator for dividend levels, but the net income attributable to parent company shareholders can vary significantly. DOE is an indicator that shows how much dividend a company pays to shareholders' capital, also known as the true dividend payout ratio, and there is increasing attention on DOE as an indicator of shareholder returns. Based on these policies, for the fiscal year ending in May 2024, it plans to increase the dividend by 1.0 yen per share to 41.0 yen compared to the previous period, expecting a dividend payout ratio of 49.5% and a DOE of 7.4%. For the fiscal year ending in May 2025, it plans to increase the dividend by 6.0 yen per share to 47.0 yen compared to the previous period, with an expected dividend payout ratio of 51.4% based on performance estimates. The company has been increasing dividends every period since the fiscal year ending in May 2018, and plans to continue increasing dividends in the fiscal year ending in May 2025, aiming for 8 consecutive dividend increases.

(Writer: FISCO analyst Tomoichi Murase)