■Shareholder returns

Regarding Wacom's shareholder return measures, the basic policy is to continue stable dividends and implement flexible share repurchases while securing internal reserves necessary for future business development and strengthening the management structure. Regarding dividends, the approximate dividend payout ratio on a consolidated basis is around 30%, keeping in mind that proper financial soundness is ensured. Even if it exceeds that, the idea is to maintain a stable dividend amount per share in principle and strive to return profits through medium- to long-term increases in dividends per share. Also, considering administrative costs, the number of dividends paid is once a year at the end of the term. Regarding the acquisition of treasury stock, it is a policy to implement a flexible capital policy in response to changes in the business environment after considering investment opportunities, financial conditions, etc. During the period covered by “Wacom Chapter 3” (fiscal year ending 2022/3 to fiscal year ending 2025/3), it is a policy to implement share repurchases with a total amount of 20 billion yen (cumulative share repurchases of 12.5 billion yen have been carried out as of 2024/3/31).

The dividend for the fiscal year ending 2024/3 was implemented at 20.0 yen per share, the same amount as the previous fiscal year (dividend payout ratio of 67.5%). The total amount of treasury stock was acquired approximately 7.5 billion yen (11.04 million shares).

In addition to predicting dividends of 20.0 yen (dividend ratio 46.9%) per share for the fiscal year ending 2025/3, the acquisition of treasury shares with an upper limit of 3 billion yen (6 million shares) on 2024/5/9 and the cancellation of 6 million shares of treasury shares held were also resolved (cancelled on 2024/5/16).

*The share repurchase period under the same resolution is 2024/5/10 to 2024/9/30.

Going forward, there is no change in the idea that cash flow will be effectively utilized while keeping an eye on capital utilization efficiency (ROE) and business operation efficiency (ROIC) in balancing research-related investments, including collaboration with partners, and shareholder returns through dividend payout ratio and share repurchases.

(Written by FISCO Visiting Analyst Ikuo Shibata)