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).

Mainland education <4714> positions returning benefits to shareholders as one of the important management priorities. Regarding the dividend policy, they comprehensively consider the level of internal reserves, profit situation, and business environment, and have decided to aim for a dividend payout ratio of 50% or more starting from the fiscal year ending in February 2024. Based on this policy, they plan to set the per-share dividend for the fiscal year ending in February 2025 at the same amount as the previous period, at 10.0 yen per share (dividend payout ratio of 90.3%). The dividend yield will be at a level of 3.7% (as of the closing price on October 25, 2024). In addition, they consider internal reserves accumulated other than dividends as funds to be used for purposes such as facility investment, system investment to promote digital transformation in management, M&A investment, and to prepare for temporary cost increases in case of unexpected events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Written by FISCO guest analyst, Jo Sato)