Pentax 2007 Annual Report Download - page 7

5
A Message
to Our
Stakeholders
Current Issues and Future Prospects
In my view, our slogan for the current fiscal year (ending March
2008) should be “further sharpening Hoya’s competitive edge.”
This is the issue that each business division needs to address. As
you may recall, we used the same phrase a year ago, but in the
fiscal year ended March 2007 we again faced pressure to increase
investment in mass production capacity, despite having thought
last year that we had reached a plateau. Looking back over the
past three years, we have invested an annual amount of around
¥50,000 million in plant and equipment, putting a great deal of
effort into boosting the capabilities of existing plants and opening
new plants overseas. It cannot be denied, however, that these
efforts took a certain toll. As human resources, particularly
engineers, were devoted to the increase in production capacity,
other tasks had to take a back seat, including new product
development, the refining of production processes, and work to
achieve greater productive efficiency. In the current fiscal year, we
will continue to strive to sharpen Hoya’s “innate” competitive
edge. This means developing
products that are ahead of the
competition, achieving stable
mass production of high-quality
product, implementing firm cost
structures, and ensuring
on-time delivery. Although all of
these are natural extensions of current projects, I believe the path
to continued success is paved by layering such solid achievements
one on top of another.
Touching now on a mid- to long-term issue, I believe that it is
important that we should cultivate and develop a new field of
business that, in addition to the two current areas of Information
Technology and Eye Care, can play a leading role in Hoya’s growth
into a new era. Not wishing to rely too heavily on existing products
and proprietary technologies, we are currently seeking to broaden
Hoya’s business portfolio, giving due consideration to fields that
will foster growth while also making effective use of all of Hoya’s
management corporate resources.
A Final Word
I am always careful to set Hoya’s course with the wishes of our
shareholders in mind. I am sure that you have heard me say, “The
company belongs to its shareholders.” My thinking on this matter
will not change. In the fiscal year under review, which saw a more
robust stock market, shareholder interest in Hoya grew: by the end
of March 2007 the number of individual shareholders had grown
dramatically to reach almost 100,000. It gives me great joy to have
so many of you as joint owners of Hoya, but it also gives me pause
when I consider the weighty management responsibility that you
have entrusted to me.
In a world in which the movement of people, goods and money
is increasingly borderless, we live in an age which expects
businesses to be administered according to global standards. From
business management to environmental responsiveness and
corporate compliance, everything needs to be seen from a global
perspective. Similarly, all of Hoya’s stakeholders—including
shareholders, trading partners and employees—are becoming
diversified around the globe, and their very diverse values
intermingle and coexist with each other. In the midst of this
globalization of the business environment and the emergence of
widely differing values, I look back to the basics—“Hoya’s raison
d’être”—and I want to see Hoya create the kind of value for
society that only Hoya can create. My hope is that every
shareholder would look forward to Hoya’s creation of new value for
the future.
In order to foster Hoya’s ongoing growth and development, we
have for some time now been examining the potential of
incorporating a new business into our portfolio. In December 2006,
a basic understanding was reached with Pentax Corporation on a
management integration of the two companies, with a merger to be
completed on October 1, 2007. After the initial agreement, the
form the merger was to take changed from a management
integration through share swap merger to a tender offer, and a new
agreement was reached to proceed with this in July 2007. Hoya
has been providing updates on the merger on its website and in
other media, and we will continue to make new information
available to the public as appropriate. I look forward to the
continuing understanding and support of our shareholders as we
move forward with this exciting new step.
Hiroshi Suzuki, President and CEO