Isuzu 2008 Annual Report Download - page 8

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Message from the President n Isuzu Motors Limited Annual Report 2008
Message from the President
March 2008: Business Environment and Results
The business environment in the previous term saw much
greater economic fluctuation than was anticipated, with the
market environment buffeted by significant change. Part of
this was the major impact on the global economy of the rap-
id rise in oil and other raw material prices, which also resulted
in greater economic activity in resource-producing countries,
as well as a positive change in the emergence of new
markets. On the other hand, the effects from the impact
of the sub-prime loan problems in the United States also
resulted in sluggish economies, reflected in lower rates for
the dollar and a stronger yen.
This environment of depressed Japanese and US markets,
with economies such as Thailand also sluggish, produced a
difficult year for the Company. There was reason to antici-
pate greatly expanded demand from resource-producing
countries, a development the company moved aggressively
to capture. The results for the fiscal 2008 were: total sales
of ¥1,924,833 million, operating income of ¥109,573 mil-
lion, working profit of ¥122,322 million, and net income of
¥76,021 million.
It has been a little over a year now since I
became president. Last year, after we set out
our new Mid-term Business Plan, I had the
opportunity to exchange opinions with our
investors and other stakeholders in both Japan
and overseas. We were able to share and
deepen their understanding of our approach
and business strategies, and I also came to
appreciate first-hand the warm support and
strong hopes all of you have for Isuzu.
Included in these figures from the consolidated financial
statement are eight consolidated subsidiaries in the ASEAN
region, which this year changed their fiscal year from the
previous ending in December to March. It is therefore
appropriate to disclose the results for these companies,
which were affected by this change: sales were ¥133,229
million; operating income was ¥7,589 million; working
profit was ¥8,330 million; and net income for the current
term was ¥4,203 million.
Forecast for March 2009
In fiscal 2008, the steep rise of raw material prices led
to an economic slump in Japan and North America, which
will make for an even more difficult business environment
in fiscal 2009. This will require increased rationalization and
improvements in profitability, as well as the steady develop-
ment of CV sales in resource-producing and emerging
countries, where we anticipate growth. Reflecting this,
our forecast for the period is sales of ¥1,850,000 million;
operating profit of ¥105,000 million; working profit of
¥115,000 million; and net income of ¥85,000 million.
N e x t g e n e r a t i o n v i s i o n