Fujisash Increases Operating Profit Ratio to Over 3% in FY2009

Fujisash announced its 4-year management plan to fiscal 2009 ending March 2010 on Monday. The firm aims to increase the operating profit ratio to over 3%, to reduce interest-bearing debt to less than 33 billion yen and to strengthen the net worth in fiscal 2009. Fujisash plans to review and reorganize its group business structure in order to improve the profitability throughout the plan.Fujisash aimed to clear 13.8 billion yen of loss carried forward, to recover 100 billion yen of net sales, to increase the operating profit ratio to 6% and to reduce debt to less than 50 billion yen as the goal of the midterm management plan to fiscal 2006 ending March 2007. However, the business circumstances drastically changed when the material costs of crude oil and aluminium ingot significantly increased beyond expected and then Fujisash drew up the new management plan.The firm aims to establish the financial strength and to reform its business structure and business management system during the new 4-year management plan. The 8 operational basic strategies of the plan are (1) expansion of the sales in the new markets, (2) expansion of the sales in the low- and medium-rise building market, (3) review of the production and distribution systems inside the group, (4) quick delivery by the restructure of its design system, (5) systematization of raw materials procurement, (6) the sales expansion of aluminium extrusions for non-construction field, (7) review of information technology system and administration inside the group, and (8) reduction of interest-bearing debt by sellout of the surplus assets.As for the numeric targets in fiscal 2009, Fujisash estimates the consolidated sales as 120 billion yen being flat compared with the estimate in fiscal 2005. On the other hand, the firm will increase the operating profit to 3.9 billion yen through reduction of the sales costs. Then the firm aims to increase the recurring profit to 2.9 billion yen. In addition, Fujisash will increase its self-owned capital to 14 billion yen.