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).

System Support <4396> considers returning profits to shareholders as one of the important management issues, and this time, it announced a change in dividend policy. In the past, the basic policy was to secure internal reserves necessary for future business expansion and strengthening of financial health while continuing stable dividends, and to improve the dividend level in accordance with business performance and profit levels. Under that policy, the dividend per share for the fiscal year ending June 2024 increased by 8.0 yen compared to the previous year to 40.0 yen, continuing the trend of increasing dividends for 5 consecutive periods since the company went public. To clearly continue this trend of increasing dividends, it has been decided to introduce progressive dividends. Progressive dividends refer to a dividend policy that generally does not reduce dividends and aims to maintain or increase dividends. Based on this policy, the dividend per share for the fiscal year ending June 2025 is planned to increase by 8.0 yen to 48.0 yen, and further dividend increases are expected along with business growth in the future. The level of dividend payout ratio has not been explicitly stated, but it is expected to maintain the previous level of 30-35% for the time being.

(Written by FISCO guest analyst, Jo Sato)