Main questions and answers at Financial Results Briefing for 4Q FY2018 | Presentations

In FY2018 new orders were significantly concentrated in the fourth quarter. Will there be an imbalance in timing of receiving new orders in FY2019?

We have planned for a more equal distribution of new orders throughout the year of FY2019 compared to the previous fiscal year.

A significant increase of overseas orders is planned in FY2019. What do you think about the prospect of achieving it?

As a medium- and long-term target, we aim to increase the share of overseas projects to approximately 10% of the total sales. We also expect large overseas projects in FY2019.

Do you think that you will be able to achieve the sales target of 1,870 billion yen set in the medium-term business plan?

We think that the plan has been steadily progressing toward expanding our business scale from 1,650.9 billion yen recorded in FY2018 to 1,740 billion yen planned for FY2019. We are making group-wide efforts to achieve the medium-term target, through increasing overseas projects and securing other new business opportunities, including M&As.

Many large-scale projects will be completed in FY2019. Are they on schedule? Is there any influence of delayed delivery of materials?

Some projects were originally planned to be on a tight schedule, and a strict process control has been implemented. So, there have been no particular problems.

Regarding the outlook for gross profits in FY2019, to what extent do you expect it to be higher than the plan?

As the profitability of construction works tends to improve toward the end of construction time thanks to the acquisition of additional works, cost reduction, etc., the number of projects completed in each term affects the profitability. Many large-scale projects are scheduled to be completed in FY2019, so we anticipate that profits will be higher than the plan compared to the previous fiscal year.

Please tell us about the implementation status of the investment for growth set in the medium-term plan. To what extent has it been incorporated in the performance forecast?

The amount of the investment for growth implemented in the first year (FY2018) accounts for approximately 30% of the total amount of 300 billion yen for three years planned in the medium-term business plan. The primary fields of the investment include domestic real estate, research and development and ICT. The performance forecast for FY2019 has incorporated only the investment for growth that has been decided to be implemented.

Regarding work style reform how is the progress of the effort for realizing eight closed days every four weeks at work sites?

We have been working on work style reform in phases toward FY2024 when the revised law will be adopted to limit the maximum overtime working hours. As of the end of FY2018, around 60% of the work sites have realized six closed days every four weeks. As a rule, we are continuing our efforts to fully achieve the target in FY2019.