Presentation Transcripts

Latest Update : Aug.8, 2017

Back to Financial Results (FY3/2018)

Investor Conference Call for 1Q FY 3/2018 held on August 4, 2017

This slide shows the current performance of miniature ball bearings, our anchor product line.
External demand for miniature ball bearings is quite strong. The external shipment volume for the first quarter has grown year on year for the last 19 quarters in a row and hit a monthly record high of 187 million units this June. The increase is mainly due to strong demand for miniature ball bearings used in automobiles, high-end home appliances, and servers, and we expect demand to steadily grow.
Internal demand for ball bearings, which are mostly used for pivot assemblies, has also remained steady overall despite recent slowdown in the HDD market. The total shipment volume for external and internal sales combined has exceeded the production volume since September 2016. That's why we had to urgently boost production capacity. We have been making steady progress in our efforts to increase production capacity by improving productivity, which we explained at the investor meeting for the previous fiscal year held in May. The production volume hit a record high of 267 million units in May and June.
As for the capacity expansion by capital expenditure we announced at the investors' meeting for the third quarter of the last fiscal year in February, we are going to put off installing new equipment. For the time being, we will prioritize on improvement of productivity within the existing capacity. If we should start launching the machineries from capital expenditure, our production capacity could reach 300 million units per month by May 2018.

15page (total 19pages)

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