Fuji Sash Steadily Improves Finance along Mid-term Plan

Fuji Sash takes a favorable step for its 4-year management plan to March 2010. The firm is likely to decrease interest-bearing debt by 20% at the end of March 2007 from a year earlier. The firm expects sales for aluminium extrusions applied for non-construction fields increases to more than 50 billion yen at the end of mid-term plan.Fuji Sash posted recurring loss in first half of fiscal 2006 ending March 2007 when the firm held many orders with low profitability. On the other hand, the firm gained profit improvement as a result of price hike efforts since the beginning of 2006. The firm has passed about 70% of cost increase on the selling prices, the firm said, and seeks more advances in the hike.The firm could cut the interest-bearing debt to 40.5 billion yen at the end of fiscal 2006 from 51.1 billion yen at the end of fiscal 2005, when the firm cuts more than 10 billion yen of debt by land selling of the headquarter office. The firm aims to cut debt to 33 billion yen at the end of fiscal 2009.Fuji Sash advances sales expansion of aluminium extrusion for non-construction usages as a growth business field along the mid-term management plan. The firm posted 14.125 billion yen of net sales for the business in 1H of fiscal 2006, which increased by 21.3% from the same period of fiscal 2005, and 314 million yen of operating profit increasing to 10.5 times from a year ago. The firm estimates 31.387 billion yen of net sales through fiscal 2006, which would increase by 25.1% from fiscal 2005.Fuji Sash especially aims to expand sales of high value added products such as high precision aluminium products which represent about 30% in sales of non-construction usage aluminium extrusion. The firm aims to grow non-construction using aluminium extrusion to the second core business next to building materials.