First of all, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you as shareholders and investors for your continued understanding and support of the Teijin Group's business activities.

Toward the fulfillment of its long-term vision of "To Be a Company that Supports the Society of the Future," the Teijin Group has been implementing various initiatives to create growth platforms during the three years targeted under its medium-term management plan 2020-2022, including proactively allocating resources to priority areas and strengthening the management base to drive innovation. However, we experienced a sharp downturn in our profitability as a result of the severe impact, primarily on our Materials Business Field, of drastic changes in the external environment brought about by COVID-19 and the situation with Ukraine, as well as other causes including malfunctions of factory facilities and a factory fire. In the Healthcare Business Field, with an eye toward launching the kind of community-based integrated healthcare services that will be needed in the super-aging society, we continued to strengthen our business foundation for supporting patients, families, and communities in the home healthcare business, which already has one of the highest market shares in the industry in Japan. Despite this, we have failed to adequately release new products and services able to contribute to future earnings, and so have fallen short of achieving our profitability target.

In light of such circumstances, we conducted a fact-based verification of the achievements made and issues faced, and reconfirmed the current situation and our future heading. Consequently, we concluded that a fundamental reform was needed to solidify our platform, which prompted us to formulate "The Teijin Group Reforms for Profitability Improvement" announced in February 2023. Specifically, we will be implementing measures to improve the profitability of our Composites Business, Aramid Business, and Healthcare Business, designating them as underperforming businesses. In addition, in an effort to resiliently address changes in the external environment, we will also work on reforming our management structure of corporate officers and headquarters staff with the aim of expediting management decisions and execution. Based on the outcomes of this reform, we will announce our new medium-term management Plan in FY2024, which will reflect the restructuring of the business portfolio and growth strategies.

The Teijin Group is one of the few companies that is making dedicated efforts to take care of both people's mental and physical health and the health of the planet on which they live. I believe that our Group's strength and purpose lie in squarely tackling the issues and concerns of customers, patients, and society at large and forming genuine connections with them. To keep reinforcing such strength, we will aim at embodying our long-term vision of "To Be a Company that Supports the Society of the Future" by becoming a company that protects the global environment and that addresses issues of patients, families, and communities in need of more support.

The Teijin Group has marked the 105th anniversary of its founding. In the course of our history, we have continued to achieve growth by overcoming numerous difficulties and crises, anticipating the needs of society, pivoting to enter new businesses, and taking on new challenges. Faced with the current predicament, I intend to revisit our origins and the conviction, passion, and pioneering spirit with which our founders launched their business, and to convert this crisis into a launchpad for transformation and growth. To put ourselves back on a growth trajectory, we will seek to implement reform in the next year through concerted Group-wide efforts.

We look forward to the continued understanding and support of our shareholders and investors.