The Company places utmost priority on continuous increase of dividend. The final dividend amount is determined after taking into consideration the needs for funds to expand businesses in the future and to improve the profitability as well as the overall financial conditions and the performance of the term concerned.
Based on the above policy, we decided to pay a total dividend of 90.0 yen per share for the fiscal year ended March 2023, up 18.0 yen from the prior fiscal year to continuously increase the return to shareholders.
Regarding dividends, under our policy which prioritizes a continuous increase in dividends, we plan to raise dividends for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, taking into account the progress of our business performance.
We have decided to carry out a stock split, effective from October 1, 2023. Consequently, our declared dividend per share for the end of the second quarter of the current fiscal year is ¥55, and the year-end forecast is set at ¥28 per share (which is equivalent to ¥56 per share prior to the stock split).