Wacom 2008 Annual Report Download - page 8

7
(Millions of yen)
’07
Net sales
Gross profit
Operating income
WP1018
’08 ’09 ’10 ’11
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
How did we do in our 25th year?
Despite growing concerns about the global economy, our
business environment was relatively stable until Q3.
However, this deteriorated in Q4 due to the sub-prime loan
problem, high oil prices, weakening US currency and
growing global economic concerns. Fortunately, the
impact on our business was less than expected and our
operating results continued to improve in all key regions
and across all product lines. Major growth drivers were the
increasing demand for professional and consumer digital
content, rapid expansion in emerging Asia-Pacific regions
and the increasing volume of Tablet PC shipments.
In September 2008, we celebrated 25 years of business
and seized this opportunity to successfully introduce our
bold, new corporate brand concept: “Open up. Sense
more.” This is now the concept that drives our brand. We
have also refined our mid-term strategy and business plan
to expand our focus toward more general user interface
solutions and consumer segments.
On a corporate level, we worked on the J-SOX-compliant
internal control system, the German-Japanese APA
application, management of an IP infringement lawsuit and
the introduction of takeover countermeasures. Finally, we
acquired exciting new capacitive touch technology
through M&A.
As a result, we are pleased to announce recorded net
sales of ¥36,739 million (up 27.6%), operating income of
¥5,539 million (up 21.3%), ordinary income of ¥5,581
million (up 20.3%), and net income of ¥3,501 million (up
22.7%) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008.
Where are we heading in our 26th year?
We expect further global uncertainty due to the instability
of the U.S. and global economies, oil and raw material
price increases and exchange rate fluctuation within key
currencies. That said, we firmly believe our business will
continue to grow. We will benefit from global proliferation
of digital design processes as well as the strong growth of
the digital content industry in emerging markets.
Communication of Bamboo, our new consumer brand, will
increase product awareness among consumers and we
will develop a new business segment with LCD pen
tablets and security products. Our components business
will focus on supplying interactive LCD module solutions
as well as expanding into new fields such as mobile
phones, PDAs and digital paper. Growth of Tablet PCs will
also continue to accelerate, creating major opportunities
for component sales.
Investment in business support systems and processes
such as global IT infrastructure, SCM systems and internal
control systems compliant with the J-SOX will carry on.
We will also make every effort to achieve the goals set out
in our mid-term business plan (WP1018*).
Taking into account our business outlook and including
necessary investments for the future, we project net sales
of ¥44,500 million (up 21.1%), operating income of ¥6,500
million (up 17.3%), ordinary income of ¥6,450 million (up
15.6%), and net income of ¥3,950 million (up 12.8%) for
the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.
Your dividend
To thank you for your support and reflecting the financial
result of a successful fiscal year, we offered an ordinary
dividend of ¥2,500 per share to our shareholders as of
March 31, 2008. While reinforcing our financial base, we
intend to continue stable dividend payouts and increase
this ratio over time.
Our message to you
We are committed to enhancing our corporate value with
the ongoing development of exciting new technologies,
investing in talented people and reinforcing our business
infrastructure. The overall aim is to accelerate our business
growth and achieve increased profitability. We take our
role as a global company and corporate citizen extremely
seriously and are deeply committed to fulfilling our social
responsibility for corporate governance and compliance.
Your support is invaluable and is essential to our continuing
success. We thank you very much for your loyal support.
For the year ended March 31