To Our Shareholders & Investors
President Ikuo Akutsu reports business results and development
and explains the future tasks and strategies.
Looking Back over the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2017
Results of Operations
Consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 was ￥92,411 million (up 14.4% year on year). Operating income was ￥9,194 million (down 1.3%), and profit attributable to owners of parent was ￥6,007 million (up 9.5%).
Although this fiscal year had an irregular accounting period of nine months due to the change in fiscal year-end, we decided to leave the year-end dividend unchanged at ¥32 per share to express gratitude to our shareholders for their constant support. Combined with the interim dividend of ¥32, annual dividend amounted to ¥64 per share for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.
Business Development
Material Business maintained strong performance
- Sales of semiconductor photoresists and high-density integration materials increased.
- Sales of high-purity chemicals increased significantly.
- EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) photoresists gained a high evaluation from customers.
As for semiconductor photoresists, KrF (krypton fluoride) excimer laser photoresists and high-density integration materials continued to show a solid growth mainly in Asia and Japan against the backdrop of robust demand for semiconductor memory. High-purity chemicals showed a favorable growth as a result of the launch of manufacturing lines using cutting-edge process by a major customer in Asia. In addition, mass production in semiconductor manufacturing process using EUV, considered as a strong candidate for the next-generation semiconductor processing technology, is about to start, and TOK’s EUV photoresists have been receiving a good evaluation from customers
considering adapting the technology for their mass production.
Sales Composition of Semiconductor Photoresist by Region
Solid growth in Asia and Japan
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, sales of semiconductor photoresists for Asia and Japan showed a solid growth.
Especially, a significant sales increase in Asia resulted in a rise in the sales composition ratio of the region. Meanwhile, sales in North America remained at the same level year on year due to the delay in mass production using cutting-edge process by a major user. We expect to see a demand increase in all regions for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. Especially in Japan, we expect an increase in sales volume of products for 3D-NAND as its market is expected to further expand.
Outlook for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018
Both sales and profits are forecast to increase with Equipment Business expansion and Material Business growth
Net sales
In the Material Business, we forecast an increase in shipment volume of high-purity chemicals for Asia and North America in addition to an increase in sales volume of electronic functional materials forAsia and Japan supported by robust demand for semiconductors. In the Equipment Business, we also plan to expand sales of the Zero Newton wafer handling system for through-silicon via (TSV) process and flexible display manufacturing equipment.
Profit
In the Material Business, despite a steady increase in sales volume of electronic functional materials and high-purity chemicals, profit is forecast to decrease due to a rise in the raw materials price stemming from soaring crude oil prices, an increase in depreciation and
amortization, etc. and the impact of yen’s appreciation. On the other hand, earnings in the Equipment Business are forecast to improve due to sales increase. As a result, we forecast increases in operating income, ordinary income, and profit attributable to owners of the parent for
the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018, mainly due to earnings improvement in the Equipment Business.