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03
PERFORMANCE IN 2012
Looking at the global economy in fiscal 2012, ended
December 31, while the United States continued to
enjoy a relatively solid economic recovery, the European
economy struggled in the face of financial instability
and clouds began to appear over growth in China and
other emerging nations. The Japanese economy realized
moderate expansion driven by internal demand, but the
rate of growth slowed somewhat in the second half of
the year. As for foreign exchange markets, the yen main-
tained its high valuation, remaining mostly unchanged
against the U.S. dollar from the previous year but rising
significantly against the euro.
Canon’s performance was affected by such factors
as the worldwide economic slowdown and the histor-
ically high yen. For the year, consolidated net sales
totaled ¥3,479.8 billion, down 2.2% from the previ-
ous year. Despite the highly challenging business
conditions, however, we worked hard to boost the com-
petitiveness of our products while striving to maintain
and improve our sound financial structure. On a local
currency basis, net sales remained mostly unchanged
from fiscal 2011.
In order to boost the competitive strength of our
products, we made efforts to maintain and further
expand market share, further raising competitiveness
through such means as launching a greater number
of new products than in previous years. In addition to
enjoying the No. 1 position for laser printers and digital
cameras, we maintained strong market positions across
all our business segments.
We also strove to maintain and improve our sound
financial structure. Our stockholders’ equity ratio, a
TO OUR STOCKHOLDERS
reliable indicator of financial stability, rose 1.0 percent-
age point, from 65% in 2011 to 66% in 2012. At fiscal
year-end, cash and cash equivalents stood at around
¥670 billion, equivalent to approximately 2.3 months of
net sales, which we regard as an adequate level.
Consequently, although we were not able to avoid the
decline in business performance, our corporate strength
remains intact in terms of our product competitiveness
and retaining a sound financial structure. Moreover,
we believe we were successful in maintaining a robust
foundation that will enable us to swiftly address future
changes in the business environment and make neces-
sary investments in a flexible manner.
With respect to stockholder return, Canon is being
more proactive in returning profits to stockholders,
mainly in the form of dividends, taking into consid-
eration mid-term profit forecasts, planned future
investments, cash flow and other factors. Over the 25
years since 1988, we have steadily increased dividends
without ever having lowered them during this period.
In fiscal 2012, Canon has decided to pay a full-year cash
dividend of ¥130.00 per share, a ¥10.00 increase from
fiscal 2011. This included a special ¥10.00 dividend to
commemorate our 75th anniversary.
EXCELLENT GLOBAL
CORPORATION PLAN
Canon launched the Excellent Global Corporation Plan
in 1996 and, since that time, we have reinforced our
business foundation through the plan’s various phases.
During Phase I, we began by emphasizing consol-
idated business management over nonconsolidated
business management and thoroughly shifted our focus