Fujitsu 2013 Annual Report Download - page 24

Fujitsu’s vision for society and social contribution
Return to shareholders and dividend policy
People often look to ICT to help resolve social issues. Tell us about the type of society Fujitsu aims to
realize, and your approach to social contributions.
We will contribute to solving global issues by applying ICT. Specifically, we will chart a course to a
brighter future through innovation and by utilizing ICT, which has begun to demonstrate the power to
transform society. Guided by our brand promise of “shaping tomorrow with you,” we will steer the
Fujitsu Group with an emphasis on creating value in partnership with stakeholders.
What is your stance on returns to shareholders and dividends?
Given that retained earnings became negative on a non-consolidated basis, we deeply regret that we
decided to forgo payment of the year-end dividend for fiscal 2012. As a result, we paid only the interim
dividend, making the annual dividend ¥5 per share for the fiscal year. In fiscal 2013, we plan to suspend
the interim dividend. The year-end dividend will be decided based on an assessment of progress with
structural reforms.
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The march of economic globalization is gaining momentum
thanks to the use of innovative ICT. As a result, global GDP has
tripled over the past 20 years. However, this tremendous growth
and development has been shadowed by a host of emerging
problems. Food, water, resource, and energy shortages accom-
panying population growth present concerns of global dimen-
sions. Meanwhile, in developed countries, aging populations
and other issues have started to pose major societal challenges.
As a global enterprise, Fujitsu believes that it has a social
obligation to help solve such global issues through the power of
ICT. Nevertheless, merely treating the symptoms of these sorts
of global issues in line with past approaches will not lead to
lasting solutions. By untangling the complex web of interac-
tions underlying these issues, we must respond systematically
to the challenges we face.
Today, ICT has come to possess the power to transform
society, going beyond its traditional role of raising business
efficiency. Leaders who seek to pave the way for the future will
be called upon to explore solutions that do not merely extend
past approaches. They will need to chart a course to a brighter
future through innovation. To this end, we must strive to flexibly
and rapidly tackle social issues by using ICT in real time to
deepen our insight into the challenges facing society.
Under Fujitsu’s policy on the distribution of earnings, a portion
of retained earnings is paid to shareholders to provide a stable
return on a continuous basis, and a portion is retained by the
Company to strengthen its financial base and support new
business development opportunities that will result in improved
medium- and long-term performance. In addition, taking into
consideration the level of profit, Fujitsu aims to further increase
Turning to the digital society, the Internet population has
expanded to more than 2.7 billion and counting. The explosive
proliferation of smartphones and SNS has blurred the distinction
between the digital and real-life worlds, unlocking a broad
spectrum of opportunity as well as spawning burgeoning
threats such as cyber-attacks.
Fujitsu believes that it also has a crucial social responsibility
to support a reliable and secure environment for both the digital
and real-life worlds. However, it is impossible to completely
remove all risks. Cyber security initiatives must not dwell solely
on risk, but must also adopt out-of-the-box thinking to broaden
the foundation of secure cloud platforms and enhance security
at a global level.
In regard to the CSR platform throughout our value chain, in
fiscal 2012, we used the ISO 26000 framework to begin
strengthening CSR management at Group companies. The
Fujitsu Group adheres to responsible management practices as
a global enterprise. We support the United Nations Global
Compact’s 10 principles in the four areas of human rights, labor,
the environment and anti-corruption. Guided by our brand
promise of “shaping tomorrow with you,” we will continue to
steer the Fujitsu Group with emphasis on creating value in
partnership with stakeholders.
the distribution of profit to shareholders when the financial
base is sufficiently strong, including through share buybacks.
In fiscal 2012, Fujitsu saw performance deteriorate at
Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited, its semiconductor business
subsidiary, and FTS, its European subsidiary. We recorded an
extraordinary loss in connection with the implementation of
structural reforms and other factors. In addition, at our UK
022 FUJITSU LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2013