Ajinomoto Co Inc

Thank you for your attendance to the Ajinomoto's Interim Financial Results Presentation Meeting FY2024. This is Kaji, IR department, the moderator. First, I'd like to introduce today's participants from Ajinomoto side. Fujii, Representative Executive Officer, President, hello, nice to have you all. Mr. Shirakami, Representative Executive Officer, Executive Vice President. Hello, nice to have you all. Sasaki, Executive Officer and Senior Vice President, General Manager, Corporate Division. Masai, Executive Officer, Food Products Division. Hello, nice to have you. Mr. Maeda, Bio and Fine Chemical Division, Executive Officer. Hello, nice to have you all. Executive Officer in Charge of Finance and IR, this is Mizutani. Hello, nice to have you. Kawana, Supervision of Frozen Foods, Executive Officer. Quality Assurance, Sumariga, Executive Officer. Executive Officer, Diversity and HR, this is Kayahara. Nice to have you. Global Communication Department, Ogiwara. Hello, nice to have you all. So we have 10 participants from Ajinomoto side. Today, from Mr. Fujii, he will be talking about summary of financial results for the first half ended September 30, 2024, and the forecast and initiatives for enhancing corporate value. And we will have Q&A. The overall meeting is expected to be an hour and 30 minutes. Today's material is already uploaded on the website of Ajinomoto, so I hope you would refer to them. Today's contents would be recorded, and including the Q&A session will be uploaded on our IR website. I would like to have your understanding. So we would like to start. Fujiya-san, please.

Good afternoon, everyone. I am Fujie. Today, I'd like to thank you for joining us despite the busy schedule today, and I'd like to thank you for your continued support extended to us on a day-to-day basis. I'd like to take this opportunity to express my thanks. Let's get into the presentation. There are five key messages today. The first in the interim period of fiscal 2020, for both sales and business profits reached new highs, 113% and doubled as it goes, excluding currency transition. And the forecast for sales and business profit has been upward revised. And then electronic materials and others are recovering steadily. And CDMO biopharma service, including Forge Biologics, are steady and healthcare is leading the growth. And third, seasoning and food overseas achieved stable organic growth. And in Japan, the profit margin declined in food products, especially coffee in Japan and frozen food in Japan. Those are the challenges for us. And so we have to take further actions. Fourth, the upward revised operating cash flow as created and returned to the shareholders proactively and renounced the two-for-one stock split and repurchased shares up to 40 billion yen at the same time. And to achieve our 2030 roadmap, we intend to evolve toward a corporate culture grounded in our purpose, in which employees will take the lead in achieving our vision and taking challenges. Now, the interim results, we have achieved new highs in both sales and business profit. Up to 2023, four years in sales and five years in a row for profits, we have been achieving record highs. We would like to continue. So sales were 108% of the previous year or 105% excluding currency and Business profit, 113% of the previous year, 110% with currency translation excluded. And seasoning and the food overseas generated profit and functional materials also recovered and leading the overall performance. And 108% of the previous year was achieved or profit achieved to owners of the parent company. And this is analysis of the difference Page 7 is the difference in the business profit segment. And then page 8 is the food and quick nourishment and sauce and seasonings, breakdown of sales and factors behind changes in business profit. So I hope you can refer to that. And also in coffee, I will explain more about that. And then page 9, shows the revised forecast for four-year fiscal 2024. Business profit and sales have been revised upward, as you can see. And then functional materials in business profits and sales, we are going to revise upward. And as for coffee business in Japan, we have revised the business profit downward. And for future investments, we have increased shared company-wide expenses, and as for the net profit attributed to the parent, out there, a restructuring reform that has not been included in the budget is there, so we have not changed the forecast. And this is the changes in business profit by disclosed segment. And then source and seasons and quick nourishment breakdown of sales and factors behind changes in business profit. So there's one thing that has been revised. At the left bottom, we have reflected the higher cost of coffee beans in Japan, and so growth in profit in Japan has decreased by 2 billion yen. So let's start with page 12, talking about coffee business in Japan. So for Ajinomoto Group as a whole, in fiscal 2004, we have achieved increased sales and profit, and we have made upward revision, but there are some challenges we need to address. One of them is coffee business in Japan. The business profit margin has declined, and the cost increase, we have been addressing them. As you can see, right bottom graph, we have repeated price increase steadily. However, the raw coffee bean price increase has continued. And in September, we have carried out major price increases in multiple categories. However, they are insufficient to fully make up for the situation. So in the full year forecast for This fiscal year, we revised business profit downward by 2 billion yen, as I said. And so, right after the major price increase in September, we have to closely watch the coffee bean price. And then, if necessary, we would carry out further actions. On the other hand, as for Jinomoto AGF, regular coffee, instant coffee, we are taking the top share. However, we're not taking top share, but the AGF, even if sacrificing the volume, the repeated difficult price increase has been carried out with the communication with the market and consumers. So we kept taking on this challenge. So I think this is a reflection of the on-site capabilities improvement. So to some extent, we had been prepared for volume decline. So this is within our assumption. That's what I wanted to tell you. Page 13, in addition to short-term price increase, what are we going to do in the mid to long term? That's what is shown here. And coffee beans market price, we have to have a portfolio that is less susceptible to those coffee beans market prices. And the left top corner, regular coffee and instant coffee. So coffee beans cost as percentage of sales is a bit higher, relatively higher. So steaks and powder drinks where the coffee bean raw material percentage as percentage of sales is lower. So we are making the shift from regular or instant coffee to sticks and powder drinks. As for sticks coffee, it already represents 40% of total sales and 15% for powder drink already. So this is a mid to long term initiative. So in enhancing execution capability, we're carrying these out. so that we can turn around the coffee business. Page 14, the seasonings and food segments overseas. As you can see, there has been steady growth as the business profit margin, the pre-pandemic level has been surpassed already. So with this initiative, we're aiming for organic growth and maintaining high profit margin, business profit margin. Page 15, The second issue is the frozen foods in Japan. First of all, let me explain about overseas business first. So overseas business is in line with the plan. So in North America and other countries outside of Japan, we have experienced a decrease in profit, but in fiscal 2023, in the fourth quarter, more specifically January through March in 2024, we have made concentrated marketing investments and we have evened this out from this fiscal year, from the very beginning of the fiscal year and spent using this. So we are making progress in line with the expectation in terms of this profit. But the issue is in Japan, there were originally three pillars. The first one is to have a double digit growth in sales And then second is to recover top market share for Gyoza. And third is the proactive brand investments. And then increasing GP, that would exceed the increase in these investments. So the Gyoza top market share has been recovered, but frozen food sales in Japan actually remained at the level of the previous year only. And also the cacao and rice market and other raw materials have increased in prices and also there was a weaker yen so because of that cost increased and we have seen profit decline but desserts and others have been increased in prices we have already made an announcement for the second half and we have already carried out price increases so far but the point is the mainstay gyoza regrowth has to be accelerated. And to that end, in August, a high-volume gyoza product has been launched, and also the cooking method and health value. If there is differentiation that we can do, then we have been enforcing this ahead of others. And also, we have increased value add, so that GP margin and share would be increased So all the employees and top management are working together to address this. Next is functional materials. In last fiscal year, there was a big decline in sales and profit, so we caused concern for you, but we have been able to steadily recover this business. Sales and business profit have been revised upward, and for both sales and business profit, we would exceed the 2022 level where we had the previous record high, and we are expecting another record high for this fiscal year. And page 17, CDMO in the first half, business profit decreased by 600 million yen, but the forged impact was worth 4.2 billion yen. So in the existing business, we actually achieved a profit increase of 3.6 billion yen. And as we said in October IR, with regard to forged biologics in a single month basis, there were months where profit was achieved. So business operation has been progressing smoothly.

And ASV indicators, I explained on page 18. I hope you would refer to them. And on page 19 is the gross pass-by segment. And on page 20 is forecast for total assets. We have not made any revision. Net DEO ratio range is going to be raised from 30%, 50% to 40% to 60%. And we are going to control them with the policy. And next is cash, operating cash flow. We do have a lot of capabilities here. 20 billion yen was the upward revision, and it is about 195 billion yen. We would like to refine our earnings capability, and we want to actively return, provide shareholders return. Page 22 is the investment plan, which has not been revised. And turning to page 23 is the important management indicators on left top, ROE, which is 12%. Has not changed from the beginning of the fiscal year is one challenge, and 18% is a goal, and there is a big gap. We would like to improve the productivity, the margin, and by having the increasing financial leverage, we would like to raise the net deal ratio. And on page 24 is the ¥195 billion of cash. We would like to generate cash. And with the allocation policy, we would like to provide flexible shareholders' return. As for the specifics of the shareholder returns, explained on page 25. 40 billion yen share repurchase have been announced today. So already in FY24 we have done 50 billion, so in total this is going to be 90 billion yen size, the same scale as in FY23. With the normalized EPS and progressive dividend policy, We will be having 80 yen of the dividend payment. We have announced this last year. We would like to continuously provide this, and we would also like to accelerate our shareholders' return. And also we finance about two for one stock split. And from here, I'd like to talk about initiatives for enhancing corporate value. From left to the right, it explains about business profit growth rate. Excluding the forge impact, FY22 forecast, which was a roadmap launchpad, we were able to grow by 15%. And FY24, we're doing all right. The 160 billion yen, excluding Forge, is 11%. And from FY25, until FY25, our profit growth should be 10% to 15%. We are very ambitious in our targets, and we have been able to go for it. And we were able to execute all the plans and projects, and that is a reason why we were able to achieve the target as well as the plan. Turning to page 28, in the latter half of the roadmap 2030, we would like to have a mindset for further challenges, and I think we're ready for it. On the other hand, we were able to improve ourselves, but there are challenges as well that is the goal as well as the present, the gap between that. We would like to improve that and evolve. That means that this is going to be a chance for us to grow. We are steadily reaching our goals, and we have written them in detail. Page 29 explains about overseas food products, business. I think they are in a virtuous cycle for further growth. As you can see on the right hand side, DX has been used and that usage is going to be accelerated and we will have a firm ground and we will scale up. We would like to do that. Next is page 30. This is a Japanese food products business. Excluding coffee, the seasonings and foods margin, profit margin has been improved and increasing, but we have not reached to the pre-pandemic level yet. So in that sense, we would like to see price hikes and Ajinomoto thanks to Your effort is regarded as one leading food company in Japan, and people pay attention to our companies. We are able to, therefore, provide various communications. We would be able to provide a healthy inflationary cycle so that we can increase the wage as well as the price. And as a mentor group, we would like to provide a wage hike, and we want to contribute to a better environment. Ajinomoto's marketing people trying to come up with healthy inflationary cycle so that that will solve the societal issues. I think this will reach and lead us to ASV, Ajinomoto Shared Value to Society, and that is gradually being reached. On page 31, this is a roadmap. Including myself, executives need to take the lead, but at the same time, our employees, each individual, needs to exert their efforts for that. Not just myself, but all the executives and other leaders are trying to have more communication and dialogues with our employees at the site. But what I'm telling them is that Ajinomoto Group's purpose, amino science, contribute to the well-being of society and human beings. This is a very big and wide perspective. We need to think about overlap of the individual employee's purpose and the company's purpose. And if there are overlaps, then motivation and engagement of the employees will increase. So we are providing My Purpose workshops that has been expanded to the global organizational heads, managers, general personnel, so that our employees could find an overlap in the purpose of themselves and the company. And as it's written, our next phase, we're trying to evolve our corporate culture On page 33, we are talking about human asset initiatives. Let me introduce the preliminary results of this year's engagement survey. ASV realization process, which was introduced last year, scored 76 points, the same as last year. And this consists of eight elements listed here. In most of the cases, we have scored high, but Third from the bottom, enhancement of productivity. As to the employees, do you need a lot of approvals until your project is going to be approved? And here, there are the issues. Therefore, we believe that we have to review the approval process and also still we see some cultures that needs to build consensus. So we need to improve that. And so the last page is my message. First, the first half summary results. We continue to grow in the food product business and we are having a recovery in the bio and fine chemicals business from FY 2023. But on the other hand, second, food product business in Japan, there are rooms for evolution. So we're trying to come up with a healthy evolution. And also, our corporate culture, we would, and the management team and the employees should try to evolve the corporate culture. So that was a brief explanation from myself. about the result and the corporate culture. So from here, we would like to start the Q&A session. Thank you for being with us. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Huijie Song. I would like to move to the Q&A session. Now, let me explain how to ask questions first. If you have any questions, please press the raise hand function button. and then I'll call upon your name. And if your name is called, please unmute yourself and speak. And those of you who are participating from overseas or listening to English, you can also ask questions in English, and there will be simultaneous interpretation service from English to Japanese and Japanese to English. And please let us limit the questions to two per person. And if there are too many questions, people who ask questions, then there may be a possibility that we may not be able to call upon everybody. I would like to ask for your kind cooperation and understanding. If you have any questions, please press the raise hand. So, Mr. Sachi from Mizuho Securities. Thank you. I have two questions. So, very good performance and upper revision and share buyback. Thank you very much. And CDMO second quarter, especially biopharma service in CDMO recovery in sales is what I would like to ask about, how to look at this. And then the revised performance in functional materials. Can you go into more details? As for biopharma service or CDMO, so it is true that in the second quarter last year, there was a decline in revenue by 2 billion yen. But in the second quarter, in the biopharma service CDMO, 7 billion yen in recovery in sales is quite significant, or 6.6 billion yen, which is quite sizable. So can you explain more about background behind this recovery? Was there any one-time factor involved? And in the second half, in total, 11.3 billion yen worth of increase in revenue or 16% including amino acid for pharmaceuticals and foods. So biopharma service and CDMO, how are you incorporating your forecast? Thank you very much for your question, Sajid-san. Maeda will answer the question. Thank you very much, Sajid-san. As a biopharma, There are two questions asked. Let me take up the biopharma CDMO. As you saw, in Q2, compared to our expectation, it just turned out that the performance was better. And from Q4 last year, as we had said in the four-year earnings, in Q23, the inventory adjustment, but funding in bio industry as a whole or investment innovation, they were all negative factors, but we had expected this to recover gradually, and recovery has been in line with our expectation. But in Q2 and Q1, first of all, the large pharmaceutical companies And also the listed products, the launched products, the contracting from those customers and for those products have been recovering steadily, especially in Japan and Europe, we are benefiting from these recoveries. And the second half, there will be more from small and medium companies and venture companies that are developing new modalities. So we are having more expectation from these. And I am saying this every time, but the business performance is not even from month to month. So larger orders were also placed in September that we had expected to come in second half. So in Q2, there was some positive surprise to some extent. So that's the answer to the first question. Well, basically, you bottomed out, and the contract that you received There are inquiries, but basically, in the second half, we can expect this to continue steadily, yes. We are on the recovery trend, and depending on the size of the customers and the types of the drugs, there are some variation, but overall, there are market businesses on the recovery track. The next question is about functional materials. So for your guidance in terms of sales by 5.5 billion yen in business profits and 6 billion yen, we have made upward revisions by that amount. So what was better than what you had expected initially? And 52.8% in the first half, which is the profit margin, which is quite high, but in the second half, profit margin would be going down to less than 47%. That is what you had assumed just as the initial forecast. So what is the difference between now and the initial forecast and what would be the expectation for the second half? So as we said last time, when we put together the original project, the biggest factor like servers and data centers, those are the major customers for ABF And the degree of recovery was a quite important index that we are focusing on. And we expected this to recover gradually and be close to 2020 level. But actually more recently, high performance computing in servers has been making more solid recovery than expected. So this is a driving factor. But as for profit margin, the product mix keeps changing in this industry, business format, so we are more conservative on the second half for the product mix. So it is very difficult to foresee or predict this mix. So in the second half, the product mix-wise, we are more conservative. Thank you. Then for generative AI, compared to initial forecast, how are you doing? Well, as for the actual demand, there has been a positive surprise, more than we had expected. There has been more, but the percentage of the total It's not that sufficient enough to impact the overall performance of profit, but it's been stronger than we had expected. Thank you.

Thank you, Kaji-san. Next question from Goldman Sachs. Miyazaki-san, please. This is Miyazaki from Goldman Sachs. I have two questions. First, the operating cash flow, 20 billion increase have been explained. Business profit is 2 billion increase. Operating cash flow is going to be increasing larger. So what is the reason behind this? And Maybe this has led to repurchase of shares, probably. That's the first question. And the second part is about the food business. Coffee, you've talked about it. Domestic and overseas unit price and volume, the slide that is showing them. For Japan, plus, minus, I think volume flat 7% increase for the unit price. I think you were able to do good with the price increase, but in the second half, volume is probably single-digit growth, unit price probably 5% increase. but you're struggling with the coffee, and what is the part are you going to increase the volume? Of course, the second half already started, and how is the start? Yes, Miyazaki-san, thank you for your question. First, about the operating cash flow. Yes, SCM inventory, we have been very effective, and supplementary comment will be done from Mizutani. And the second question about the food items, basically food business, initially we make a plan and we would go through with that plan. Of course, there are some changes of the environment, societal and various things all included, and although we remake the figures, there could be changes and fluctuations So that is the overall idea. But I think Masaya is going to also supplement on this comment. The first question, yes. Thank you for your question. As for the operating cash flow, as for the operating cash flow, we are trying to be more effective and efficient. And within, at the beginning of the year, We are planning, and during the, although this is during the year, we have thought that we should revise this. Yes, to the second question, Masai is going to answer. Yes, as you have mentioned, as was mentioned by Mr. Fujii, for the second half. I think we have a very good start. As you are all aware, as for foods, yes, Ajinomoto's foods, is going to be selling more in the second half. For this year, marketing design center was established last year, and we have launched new products which are selling well. So the second half, we would like to see more volumes, and we have a momentum, but we would like to sell more. so that we have checked with those divisions, and they say that they can do it. Thank you very much. As for the food business, so that means that coffee, sorry, they're not the existing ones, but the new product is going to be the driving force. And then you want to, you could increase the volume. And you mentioned that the start is all right. Yes. Yes. Your understanding is correct. Yes, coffee. Yes, it was mentioned in the presentation that we had price hikes. Of course, there is a risk of volume going down, but we have penetrated this price hike, and we would like to go with that. So coffee, yes, this could contribute. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you very much, Miyazaki-san. Next question from SMBC Nikko Securities, Takagi-san, please. Good evening, Takagi speaking. Can you hear me? Yes. Thank you. It may be too early, but page 27 says, In the next fiscal year, business profit forecast, 10% to 15% growth is aimed for. That's what it said. So for this fiscal year as a basis, food and CDMO and healthcare. Of course, ABF, maybe it's not clear, but how are you going to achieve this high growth in next fiscal year? So how do you go about doing that? Fujio-san, can you share your thoughts with us? And then what I'm concerned about is site 11, the overseas seasonings and processed foods or quick nourishment. In the first half, profit increased by about 5 billion yen. But in the second half, raw material cost and production cost has been increasing and There's not much growth expected in the profit in the second half. So based on that, in the next fiscal year, so food and health care, how are we supposed to expect this? Thank you very much, Takagi-san. So I'm going to answer that question, but if there's any additional comment, please go ahead. And on page 27. As I said, 15% for 24 and 11 for 25 and 10 to 15 to 25 or 26 or what. And then we have a roadmap put together and that is being refined. So as we refine the roadmap and then come up with the specific initiatives, then there are those initiatives that are being promoted, and once we make progress steadily, then we will be able to achieve what is close to 15%. But we have to have a challenging and ambitious higher ground or greater height to be established, and then we would draw a roadmap to reach that, and then refine the specific examples that would lead to execution capabilities, which we believe is important. So in that sense, you have to have a stress goal. And that's what we did. And because of that, 15% in 2023 and 11% for 2024, that is what we are committed to. And so we would like to continue to refine our execution capabilities. So that's what we would like to continue to do. On page 11, Fujii-san, can you be more specific about approaches that you're taking? For example, in the case of food, you are going to see the decline in profit, right, in this fiscal year. How to create more growth from there? And as for CDMO, in the previous fiscal year, there was a big decline, so it is a given that you're going to have a recovery in this fiscal year. So in order to have a more smooth growth, how are we going to build up the growth in next fiscal year? That's what I'm going to ask about. As for food in overseas, as I said earlier, so we are back on the further growth or regrowth. So organic growth is something that we would like to achieve first and foremost. And as for frontier areas like Cambodia and Laos, as we have mentioned, we have seen significant growth, so we would like to build that up further. And then also for frozen food, in Scotty 34, frozen food in Japan has had a headwind, but there are initiatives that are being taken, and we will see some impacts from those initiatives. And then also the foods in Japan, rather, as I said, there are various initiatives that are ongoing in fiscal 2024. So we would like to bring this back to the regrowth track steadily. And then as for biopharma and the chemicals, the biomaterials are actually covering the record high in 2022, was achieved, but we have that level in sight. And if you look at the market from fiscal 2035 onward, there are views that there will be growth from there. And as for biopharma services, as for FORGE, in 2025, EBITDA, it should be turned into a positivity. So in 2034, Until 2024, there was factors that were negative, but in 2025, we will turn this into positive territory. So each of the business units and the business headquarters, as we go into 2025, what are we going to do and what that would bring us to in 2030? We are now trying to come up with a roadmap. So late January, There will be presentation on roadmap with the global leaders getting together and share the information so that we can make sure specific activities will be implemented. Did I answer your question? Thank you. Well, slide 11, I'm also concerned about the answer. Can you answer this question? Well, page 11, in one word, So initial budget is something that we have to achieve in foods. That's what we have been confirming. And then if you do the subtraction from there, these are the numbers that we have come up with. But for food in SGF, there is a necessity to make downward revision. So 2 billion yen downward revision was made. And as for shared company-wide expenses for the future development, we have been focusing on that and reinforcing that. So this will be counted in the second half. So that will be the negative factor. Understood. So you are on the conservative side. Yes. Shinomoto should be more on the challenging spirit. That's what people would say, and I do understand that, but there could be some changes in society and economy, so I thought that we should be more significantly on the conservative side. Okay. Thank you very much, and also I have a question to Mayurasa for CDMO business. Agiface is performing well. I do understand that, but for others than Agiface, like polymers and medium or small molecules. Are we going to see more improvements in the second half or not? And as for CDMO, compared to your full-year forecast, I don't know to what extent, but there could be an upside. Are we supposed to expect that? Thank you very much, Nagori-san. As you pointed out, The small molecule is the basis, and it represents a majority of the sales, but before 2030, azephyse and alimedia molecules and gene therapy modality would be increased in percentage so that we can have a significant increase in profit margin in 2030. But for the past few years, there were inventory problems in small molecules and also bio-industry funding problems, so we suffered from that. But as I said in the previous question, from Q2, especially in Europe and Japan, there has been solid recovery that we have seen. And especially for Europe, even if we talk about small molecules, we're not providing one-stop services. We are just on the more risky and challenging ones for small molecules, and there are strong inquiries on those services. Rather than talking about second half of this fiscal year, but in next fiscal year, small molecule in Europe is going to be strong, and that's what we have expected. And the azyphase is performing well, but azycap is antibody drug complex, And new companies, new customers and licensing fees are coming in. And so there has been solid progress. And Holy X, like protein and very unique peptide production technologies is attracting multiple reactions. But in 25 and 26, There's no guarantee, so we have to be serious in negotiating with the customer for each one of those, one at a time, so that we can make it into a viable business, and our capabilities are being tested. What about polymers? Well, as for gene therapy, so in the FORGE biologics, as you saw in the presentation, So the inquiries are coming in more than we had expected. In terms of scale, scaling, we are making more progress than expected. So there has been positive surprise so far. But this is this kind of therapy that is not existent yet. So we have to, we shouldn't just take off guard and we have to keep focusing on this. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Takagi-san. Next question from JP Morgan, Fujiwara-san. Do you hear me? This is Fujiwara. Is it all right? Do you hear me? Yes, we hear you. Thank you. There are some overlaps with Ms. Takagi's question. Page 27, 10 to 15 percent of growth, as is written here, 15 percent, and this year, 11 percent. You have given these numbers. But I think it has been raised by FX, and excluding that, it is mid-single growth. Let's take FX aside. double-digit growth. In order to achieve that, I think you need to accelerate your driving force. So what are the new actions? I would like to ask Fujiya-san about your new actions. That's first question. The second one is about coffee. Stick and I think you want to focus on that. Yes, I'm convinced. But the coffee business, what is the significance of having this coffee business? Could you tell us about this? By the way, Thailand's coffee business, is it struggling or is it good? Fujiwara-san, thank you very much. Yes, the first one, FY 2025, in order to assure this with a new actions plan, What are the measures that we're going to be taking? That was your question. Yes, we are thinking about various actions and measures within and without Japan, especially within Ajinomoto Group for overseas. Diversification is very important, and we have that format. Maybe you know about this. So first, in ASEAN, diversifying the business, this format, not just in Thailand, but in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines. We have been able to diversify our business there, so they have led to regrowth trajectory, especially salt-reduced type products and health-oriented products, We have launched many of those products focusing on those areas, and like Amino Vital, the new John products have been also launched. So I think we have already planted the seeds, so that is going to take into flowers. And for the domestic food business in Japan, we have Coffee, frozen food, they are challenging business, but I have mentioned to you the countermeasures. The marketing design center that we have launched, which I have already discussed to you in the past, we would like to understand using digital grasp and understand the customer's behaviors and trends. For example, CookDo, the premium CookDo Mala Marble Dough for which is priced twice as high than the ordinary one, but that's very well taken. And one by pasta, that is also a new product, pasta cooked in one frying pan. I think they are making a hit. So I think we want those new products to become a stable and well-taken product by the customers, and that is another way of achieving our goal. As for the biofine and chemical, we have various new measures including FORGE and AGICAP, that new products, services and technologies, the monetization have already started. And that is also contributing to increasing sales and profit. Also, as for the frozen food, Gyoza X, In Gyoza, we are the top brand in Japan, and we want to expand this outside Japan. Already in Brazil, we have started a Gyoza business, and in Southeast Asia, from Thailand to other ASEAN nations, we're using a favorable treatment of the tax and expanding the business outside that country. If we have time, two or three hours, I could talk about it. We have so many, so many seeds planted already. And so taking out the opportunities, I would like to go more in detail about them. The IR group of our company, including videos, and they have been distributing a new product once a month, being uploaded on our website. So I hope you would see them all. Any comment, Masaya-san and Maeda-san, to the first question? No? Okay. Then the second point, AGF. Why do we have that company, the significance of AGF? Yes, I think... This is part of our purpose. I think their purpose and ours would match. Atenomoto Group's purpose is, using amino science, contribute to the well-being of the people. That's the definition. So especially the coffee and drinks, they are making people relax. These functions will lead to the well-being That's one thing. And another thing is that AGF, the human resources in this part of the business, is very strong. Ajinomoto Company have products and services and were good at doing business at the top part of the market share. But for AGF, They are always the second, and they are trying to survive that environment after the number one company, global company. Of course, I think there are people who are trying to do their best at that struggling environment. So I think that human resource is very important. And from the end of June, after shareholders meeting, Mr. Shimamoto, who had entered AGF from the beginning, he became the president. But before that, we had the president sent from Ajinomoto Company. So I think diversity and inclusion and equity have been well done at AGF. From D and I, I think we have been able to enrich the human resources in that company. But on the other hand, we would have to see things from a more severe perspective. Yes, we have confirmed that. One thing is that the raw bean of the coffee, the price is soaring. And we need to have a business structure so that they could endure that kind of structure. So we are thinking about a timeline that that company needs to endure that struggling environment. So with the people in HF and people at Ajinomoto, they're making a good team and trying to survive the situation. Did this answer your question? Yes, the first question, I have additional question. You mentioned that ROE target is 18%, and this year is 12%. We have a gap there, and why do you stick to this number? Well, I think 2030... ASV when we made these indices. We wanted to be challenging and ambitious. Of course, FY24 figure is very challenging and ambitious. But in order to challenge that high target, we were able to achieve various things. We had seen things perform well. So by the end of 2025, we still have time. So we would like to do our best and do everything that we can to achieve this ROE. However, having said so, as you have felt, that the challenging degree is rather higher than the other target that we have, and I'm fully aware of that. So by the end of January when we're going to be making a presentation, various departments are thinking about what to do with this. Thank you. And another thing, how about Thailand, the coffee business? Is it difficult? Well, it's not a big difficulty there, but within Thailand, the positioning of canned coffee I think very sugar-rich coffee, a long-range drunk driver drinking coffee. From that level, I think the people's preference have changed. The younger generation prefers less sugar, less strong coffee, and we're trying to change the coffee, canned coffee, in that format. I think the competition, yes, is very tough. But for the raw material of the canned coffee, of course, it is rising. So we have to think about price hikes and whether that is going to be accepted or not is going to be the key point. Masai-san, do you have any additional comments? Yes. Thank you very much. For Thailand, yes, the raw material is quite tough there. But as was mentioned by In addition to that, Thailand and other companies, other countries, they have increasing population, and we can export our product from Thailand. So, of course, the cost is very tough, but we can assume volume, higher volume. That is different from Thailand to Japan. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Fujiwara. Now, let's move to the next question. Morgan Stanley, MEFJ Securities, Miyake-san, please. Thank you very much. Morgan Stanley, Securities, Miyake speaking. I also have two questions. First one is about the Asian region, Thailand and Vietnam. What are the situations? Can you elaborate more on that? In the first quarter, in April, the shipment that has been moved to fourth quarter, there was a weakness. But in the second quarter, the momentum has been picked up in Thailand. But the sluggishness has continued in Vietnam. So in each of those countries, what is happening? Can you give us more thoughts on that? And then second question, coffee business in Japan is what I'd like to ask about. Of course, inclusive of frozen food, can you give us comment? So raw materials cost is quite challenging, and you have been working hard to increase prices. I do understand that. But it's not about the current business performance, but the price and the price commensurate, the margin level that you think is enough in the mid to long term are what would be the level that you think is appropriate? In the coffee business, during the pandemic, margin has peaked out and there may have been some special demand. So the mid to late single digit may be appropriate or can you accept more? And likewise in frozen food, there was an optimum level that was said to be 10%. That was what was given a long time ago, but things have changed since then because time has passed. So can you explain once again about that? Thank you very much, Miyake-san. So for the first question, Masai will answer the question, especially Thailand and Vietnam in Asia. So Miyake-san, Masai will answer the question. With regard to Thailand, as was commented in the first half year-on-year basis, we were struggling. However, in the second half, actually the fermentation is a major part in Thailand. So fermentation raw material is a deciding factor, but prices have been settled down more recently. So in Thailand, In terms of cost structure, we expect some recovery and turnaround. As for Vietnam, honestly speaking, there's some concern, and that is not just limited to Vietnam, but actually more prevalent in Vietnam. So at the beginning of this fiscal year, MSG global supply demand structure was mentioned, and from China, Exports are increasing. That's what I said. And the impact from that back then was on B2B business. That's what I said. However, in some countries, there was also impact in B2C because of this exports from China. And Vietnam was one of those countries that were affected because Vietnam is adjacent to China in national boundary. So the Chinese material is affecting Vietnam. So we have to address this. So in the seasoning business unit, we are working hard to address this and we'd like to take action. So as for Vietnam, there is that concern, but honestly speaking, basically speaking, there were challenging situations several years ago, but top management has been changed. but turnaround has been seen. So there is this single factor of Chinese products, but everything else was stable. So once we address this issue, then we can get back into the original recovery track. So let me answer the second question, and Kano-san, Masaya-san, you can also add to that. And as for frozen food, if you can take a look at page 41, The roadmap by segment is shown. And ROIC, or R-O-I-C, 5% is shown here. But in my view, for frozen food, top line has to be grown steadily, especially the gyoza and others in Asia and high value added products like Mexican category. In order to expand this further, marketing expenses have to be spent effectively. So for a certain period of time, we have to sacrifice ROIC to grow top line. So between now and 2030, that is something that we need to continue. That's my view. As for organic growth rate, And a business profit on top of that is shown here, so you can do the calculation on your own. As for coffee, there's no disclosure made for coffee business alone, but in our company, what was happening in the past and also the challenging and struggling business and the business that is attracting attention, That is how we look at the coffee business. So we would create stage gates and we work together with AGF and also Tokyo headquarters in Ajinomoto. And as I said, sticks, products and powder products, we would like to raise the percentage of those on a planned manner systematically. Whether we can actually carry that out is a key. And once we can execute that, then record high profit margin can be renewed. So looking back, we would say we were struggling and we were criticized back then, but we're now back on the growth and the profitable track. That's what I hope people would say about us. by drawing out roadmaps. So Masai, would you like to comment on AGF? So let me make some comments. In the previous question, what was the significance of holding on to AGF? I think this is related to that question. There are three points. So I think Miyake-san's question was about long term. So the significance of having the AGF in the practical terms First of all, our seasoning business, which is mainstay, and coffee business, there are different customer segments. So the customers that we would not be able to reach in terms of seasoning can be reached with coffee business. And that's the first thing. And more recently, I often use the word export. So from Japan, the products of ours are being exported. So overseas subsidiaries are quite strong in Ajinomoto, so we're not focusing on exports, but now exports are expected to grow. And at the forefront is the coffee business, and the reasons that you know, the Chinese business is not that strong, but opening up the door of exports to China was a coffee business. So that was the second reason. And third, So our products are more of a winter products. But a powder drink is actually popular in summer. So this is not the kind of business that we have in seasoning. Customer segment and also export potentiality and seasonality. So these are the different factors. So even though coffee bean prices are challenging, we'd like to bring this up to ideal level of profit margin. Thank you. Well, with regard to Thailand, in terms of cost, there could be a benefit. I think that was a comment made. But sales momentum seems to be getting better. What is the driver behind this? Well, thank you for your question. Compared to the previous year, The growth seems to be slowing down, but powder drink and also instant noodle continue to grow, and we believe that this momentum will be continued by ITEM. Thank you. As for frozen food in the U.S., there's upfront investments in Asian and Mexican category are expected to grow. We do understand that. But in Japan, Maybe the strategies and policies are different, so the reasonable growth and profit margin, how are we supposed to look at that? Then Kawana will answer the question in more detail. Miyake-san, as for frozen food, maybe you're concerned about this, but in the first half, rice... shortage was seen in Japan, and for chocolate, cacao prices went up, and we are trying to transform the business in Japan, and overseas exports are being increased, but sea transport freight costs increased, so there's a decline in profit in the first half, but price adjustment will have six months' time lag, but we can recover this. But the structure is being reformed now. So previously, in the frozen food business, there are companies that are acquired overseas, and all three companies have their own portfolios that are different from each other. But we have to increase the commonality to increase capital efficiency and profit structure. So we are trying to increase the common portfolio in Egypt. then that would keep increasing the business efficiency. That is where we are, and we have seen significant improvements. So we are now making upfront investments in ASEAN and South America. So the profit that has been generated is now being invested in the upfront investments. So in Japan, it is true that it is difficult to grow. but the seasoning is also the same. If we have a matched portfolio in Japan and overseas, then technologies and also expertise will be introduced, and the loyalty of technologies and human resources will be increased, so we can also enhance the business in Japan. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next question, UBS Securities, Ihara-san, please. Thank you for the explanation. This is Ihara from UBS. I have two questions. First, Fujio-san often says about the sustainable inflation, sustainable wage hike. have the same opinion as this. But my question is, are you really able to do that? The margin and the food business is not bad. The coffee is struggling. and I think your frozen food business is also struggling. What you're actually doing is not being able to become a leader of the sustainable wage hike and sustainable situation. Second is about CDMO. So I would like to first start out with the first question, is whether we can become the leader. Yes, we would like to do our best effort to become the sustainable a leader to be able to increase the wage on a sustainable basis. And I think it is a way that we would explain to you the first thing that we see is the total delivery cost margin, TDC, mechanism. We have introduced this. Whether we are able to increase the unit price and cost increase and whether that is higher than the cost that is delivered to us. Yes, as you mentioned, Ihara-san, in Japan, for the 30 years or so in Japan, we did not have any inflation. But from two years ago, we started to see some extent. So the third year, wage hike, price hike, whether we can really achieve that or not, I think that is very important. So we would not, we have no intention to say we did it, we did it. This is not something that only one company can do it. As a leading company in the food segment, I think some people are taking our company in such a way. I would be serving as various leaders in various meetings, or I would like to communicate to mass media and also create such an environment so that we will be able to increase the wages as well as the price. But are we able to do that? Are we doing it, really? This is a gap between goal and the present figures. This is a challenge. Yes, we want to see them directly and we want to try to fill in the gap. And those are the analysts and the shareholders who would make judgment whether we have been successful or not. So we want to be seriously doing that. But you need to have that ambition and I think enthusiasm to achieve that. So in that sense, I would like to have your advice and your encouragement as well. Did this answer your question? Yes, yes, I understand. Yes, I really want you to do that. But it seems to be that the margin has been lost. So of course, I would like you to do that and achieve that. The second question is about CDMO You talked about the qualitative stories, but I want to hear quantitative. 2.8 billion have been increase of the biopharma. Biomodality, what is it? And in the second half, I mean, I said 3.3 billion yen of profit increase is forecasted. I want to know more in detail or a breakdown of them. Yes. In that sense, Mr. Maeda, I would like to answer that. Ihara-san, thank you for your question. You mentioned about detailed questions, so I was a bit nervous, but I think in the previous meeting, we talked about the bar graph showing the percentage of the low molecule, mid molecule, and high molecule. But I think that percentage has not changed so far. Low molecule, yes, we have larger percentage. And based on that percentage, we are seeing the recovery. So that's about it. And you mentioned about the figures and numbers or quantitative, but market is recovering based on our percentage, and the regional recovery is also based on that percentage. I want to go more in detail. 2.8 billion increase. Forge is 1.2 minus. In that case, I think 4 billion net increase in profit. High molecule, or Altea, probably struggling still. So Europe Long Mokyo and Aji Phase in Japan, including that, what are their contribution to these profit increase? And you are expecting 3.3 billion increase of the profit in the second half, and what is the detail of that? Yes, well, it's difficult to talk about the percentage. Aji Phase and Aji Cap, this is, so to speak, are own technology, they are recovering higher, and they are less susceptible to the market changes. And therefore, we are benefiting from our proprietary technology. So Agiface and Europe recovery has been the driver for the profit increase. And my understanding is that that will continue in the second half, right? Yes, yes, we have released this. Agicap's license fee is incorporated. Rather than sales increase, profit increase seems to be higher in the material. But this is totally because of the license fee, this has high profitability. I see. So I will finish at this point of time. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Yuhara-san, for your questions. Now let us move to the next question. Okasan Securities, Sumoe-san, please. Thank you very much. Sumoge from Okasan Securities. Can you hear me? I would like to ask about free cash flow or operating cash flow upon revision. Earlier, 20 billion yen increase because of working capital efficiency improvement. But 20 billion yen is a sizable number. So can you be more specific about which factors will contribute? And structurally speaking, 20 billion yen increase can be expected. Is that correct? And conventionally, inventory reduction has been done to improve working capital. Is there any further upside? So can you give us more information about upward revision of operating cash flow? Ms. Tani will answer that question. Thank you very much for your question. So operating cash flow improvement and efficiency improvement has been something that we have been working on for some time. For all items, that's what I said, but not just inventory. but accounts receivable, accounts payable, and other items. For all items, we have been working on this, and also there are many group companies. So in each of the group companies, based on the situation, there is a unique way to address efficiency improvement. So we have added this up, and some of the initiatives have gone fruit. But from next fiscal year onward, are we going to be able to continue? and be sustained. Well, we are hoping to continue with this so that we can further improve operating cash flow. So I can't be very specific, but there are so many different items and initiatives done and that added up to this. Well, let me make some additional comments, Nobisa. Well, if I can show you the examples, SCM project, is one of them on a global or group basis. It has been launched especially for inventory reduction. What is the status in each of the subsidiaries or group companies and what is the business status? Once every month we are visualizing the situations and if there is any, of course there will be, there are companies that are making improvements and then the best practices are learned from each other and shared. So with a rolling forecast, finance and others are working together. The business forecast and also increasing the accuracy of business forecast has been something that they are working on. And as for food business, price increase initiative and visualization of the status has been done using digital technologies. So wherever you are globally, the information will be made available. So that will be rolled out to SCM as well. So at this phase, maybe even if you criticize each of the companies for not being able to do that would reduce the motivation. So we can just pick up those that are performing well, and then best practices will be shared. And there will be comments that would praise three to five corporations under the group that are performing well. So this is kind of like Chinese traditional herbal medicine. You will see the benefit later down the road. Well, the operating cash flow level that you're achieving, like, would be getting close to 200 billion yen with the profit increase and with the global initiative that will make progress, then there will be more upside in operating cash flow on top of profit increase. Is that the yardstick that you have? Well, cash coverage cycle should be addressed as much as possible. in each of the cycles. So that is where we are in the roadmap. So there's another question. The result of the presidential election in the U.S. has come out, and there will be specific impacts that you will see. So you are doing business in the U.S., and also you are doing exports and imports, so there are transactions made. So in terms of risks and opportunities, are you expecting and what kind of preparations are you making? Thank you very much for your question. It's not just a presidential election but there's a management risk committee where we look at various social and environmental changes and identify risks and opportunities associated with them in a very detailed manner and then discuss the responses and initiatives. And then impact of presidential election in the U.S. is part of that. If there is a transition to Trump administration, it is possible that there could be various changes, but it's very difficult to predict at this time. But we have to have more focus in information gathering so that we can be agile in addressing the changes. So that would include foreign exchange, sustainability, or relationship between different countries. Those are part of those discussions. And so we have to be as agile as possible in responding to those. Thank you. Then at this moment, the main factor would be the forex. I think yen is getting weaker further. but that could be it. And the CDMO business in the US, for example, you don't see the specific impact. Well, we are trying to come up with a business structure that will be less susceptible to foreign exchange changes. There's some impact, but it won't, we have to avoid the scenario where that would affect them. So B2B2C or domestic and overseas, businesses, there is a portfolio comprising of all of these with that in mind. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Moga-san. And from Daiwa Securities, Morita-san, you were raising hand. You are going to be the last person to ask question. How about you? It seems to be none. Okay. That ends the question and answer session. Thank you very much indeed. Lastly, but not least, we will have closing remarks from Mr. Fujiya. Thank you very much for your participation. Thank you very much. As I've mentioned to you, overall financial results have been very good. Of course, challenges always exist. So by solving those issues, we want to go with the road maps and we want to also plant seeds for the future and exert our effort towards our goal. Also today, the coffee business has been of interest to you. In the IR communication, we would be providing more detailed explanation, and we want you to feel what is a person, Shimamoto-san, the new president of AGF. So at an earliest possible time, we would like to have such day. So I would like to have your support continuously. Thank you very much indeed. This concludes today's presentation meeting. Thank you for your participation. Thank you. Thank you.