BACK NEXT
 
 
Now let’s look at the factors behind the projected year-on-year increase of 6.8 billion yen in operating income from operating loss 5.8 billion yen to operating income 1 billion yen. The factors that will lead to an increase in operating income include a 24.2 billion yen reduction in cost of materials, 19.8 billion yen at FHI and 4.4 billion yen at SIA. This includes an estimated gain of 8.1 billion yen at FHI due to reduced cost of materials and a gain of 11.7 billion yen as a result of recouping the losses from the previous year’s price hikes for precious metals and other materials. At SIA, an estimated gain of $42M will come from the reduction in cost of materials and another gain of $15M as a result of recouping the losses from the previous year’s hike in material prices.

Decrease of SG&A expenses and others will result in a gain of 18 billion yen. This amount can be broken down into three areas: (1) A decrease in fixed costs will result in a gain of 2 billion yen (-1 billion yen at FHI, 3 billion yen at SIA). FHI will see a decrease in fixed processing costs, resulting in a gain of 2.6 billion yen and an increase in expenses for suppliers’ dies, resulting in a loss of 3.6 billion yen. SIA will see a gain of $29M, which will include a gain of $37M due to reduced expenses for suppliers’ dies and a loss of $8M coming from processing costs and other expenses. (2) A decrease in SG&A expenses will result in a gain of 15.3 billion yen. FHI will reduce advertising and SG&A expenses to generate a gain of 8.6 billion yen. Domestic dealers will also work on cutting SG&A expenses, saving 6.1 billion yen. SOA will generate a loss of 2.7 billion yen ($26M) as it will see increases in advertising costs and SG&A expenses, resulting in a loss of $13M and $12M respectively. Although per-unit incentive is expected to drop approximately $100, from $1,600 for the last calendar year to $1,500 for this fiscal year ending March 2010, a $1M increase in incentive cost is projected due to an increase in sales volume. Our Canadian subsidiary plans to cut incentive and advertising costs, generating a gain of 0.3 billion yen. Another gain of 3 billion yen will be generated at other subsidiaries due to cost reduction. (3) Increased costs associated with accrued warranty claims will result in a loss of 1.9 billion yen. This is as a result of posting a provision for costs associated with warranty claims in overseas markets during the first half of this fiscal year. Another gain of 2.6 billion yen will come as a result of other factors.

Reduced R&D expenses will lead to a gain of 2.8 billion yen (from 42.8 billion to 40 billion yen). We will strive to increase efficiency of R&D.

Looking at the factors leading to reduced operating income, there will be a loss on currency exchange of 29.7 billion yen. An approximate ten-yen appreciation against the U.S. dollar will result in a loss of 25.4 billion yen. An approximate sixteen-yen appreciation against the euro will create a loss of 4.6 billion yen while an approximate nine-yen appreciation against the Canadian dollar will result in a loss of 3.1 billion yen. This includes an estimated gain of 3.4 billion yen since foreign exchange adjustments in transactions between FHI and its overseas subsidiaries, which used to be classified under “SG&A expenses and others,” are now classified under foreign exchange gains/losses starting in this fiscal year. FHI’s sales rate is based on the average rates applied during the previous month and adjusts the difference with its subsidiaries’ purchase spot rates.

A loss of 8.5 billion yen is projected due to deterioration of sales mix. This can be broken down into three areas. (1) A gain of 3.5 billion yen is expected in the domestic market, where sales mix is expected to improve thanks to the effect of the new Legacy despite decreases in sales volume for both passenger cars and minicars. (2) A gain of 2.6 billion yen is projected in overseas markets due especially to significant improvement in sales volume & mixture at SOA. (3) A loss of 14.6 billion yen will come from inventory adjustments, etc. [22.1 billion yen unrealized inventory losses (-6.2 billion yen in Japan, -15.9 billion yen overseas), 7.5 billion yen for other reasons].