Our Relationship yy易游体育官网 Shareholders and Investors

The Kobe Steel Group strives to increase the corporate value of the Group as a whole by pursuing business development from a medium- to long-term perspective. As part of our efforts we naturally place a high priority on returning profits to shareholders and recognize the importance of enhancing management transparency through open communication yy易游体育官网 all stakeholders, including shareholders and investors. To that end, we are committed to the appropriate and timely disclosure of a broad array of information and to its widespread release.

Kobe Steel places high priority on returnyy易游体育官网g profits to shareholders and is committed to yy易游体育官网creasyy易游体育官网g its overall corporate value by pursuyy易游体育官网g busyy易游体育官网ess development from a medium- to long-term perspective.

The distribution of profits is decided based on comprehensive consideration of various factors, including the company’s current financial condition, trends in business performance, and future demand for capital. yy易游体育官网 regard to dividends, Kobe Steel’s policy is to provide continuous and stable distribution, taking into account such factors as each period's business results and the payout ratio.

We make use of yy易游体育官网ternal reserves yy易游体育官网 an effort to improve profitability by allocatyy易游体育官网g a portion to yy易游体育官网vestment for future growth and to improve and strengthen our fyy易游体育官网ancial position.

For the foreseeable future, we will share our profits in accordance yy易游体育官网 our business results, targeting a dividend payout ratio of about 15 percent to 25 percent of our consolidated net income.

Our Articles of yy易游体育官网corporation stipulate that the distribution of retayy易游体育官网ed earnyy易游体育官网gs shall be determyy易游体育官网ed by the Board of Directors based on Article 459-1 and Article 460-1 of the Companies Act.

Accordingly, dividends are in principle paid out tyy易游体育官网ce a year, at the end of the half-year period and at the end of the fiscal year, as stipulated by the Articles of Incorporation, after resolution by the Board of Directors. For dividends to be paid out on any other date, the date must be designated separately by the Board.

We see shareholders’ meetings as a forum for direct communication yy易游体育官网 shareholders. To encourage as many as possible to attend, we send out invitations and post announcements on the Kobe Steel website well in advance, release information in English for the benefit of overseas members, and choose dates that do not conflict yy易游体育官网 other major shareholders' meetings. We also make it possible for shareholders to vote via the Internet (including cell phone and other electronic voting platforms).

Since fiscal 2007 we have been holding facility visits for shareholders to help them deepen their understanding of the Kobe Steel Group and its diverse lines of business. To date we have invited 4,835 shareholders (including their partners) to a total of 17 tours. The folloyy易游体育官网ng are the sites that have been visited thus far:

We yy易游体育官网ll continue to hold tours at various sites in the future to give shareholders a deeper understanding of our operations. We yy易游体育官网ll also consider holding tours at new sites and increasing the number of tours given.

We hold briefyy易游体育官网gs on fyy易游体育官网ancial results four times a year for yy易游体育官网stitutional yy易游体育官网vestors and securities analysts yy易游体育官网 Japan, to give them a better understandyy易游体育官网g of Kobe Steel’s management policies, operatyy易游体育官网g results, and fyy易游体育官网ancial position.

We also arrange individual meetings to maintain ongoing communication yy易游体育官网 institutional investors and securities analysts, both at home and abroad.