Basic Policy on Shareholder and Investor Engagement
- We are committed to ensuring fair disclosure of information and maintaining continuous engagement with
shareholders and investors worldwide, thereby fostering trust-based relationships with them and eliminating
information asymmetry.
- We strive to understand our shareholder structure to ensure constructive engagement with shareholders and
investors, while taking the utmost care to prevent the leakage of insider information during these engagements.
- At our company, shareholder and investor engagement is led by the Representative Executive Officers &
Co-Presidents, as well as the General Manager of Investor Relations. Additionally, Independent Directors also
participate in engagement sessions.
- At our company, we provide feedback and opinions, as well as points of concern and suggestions raised by
shareholders and investors through engagement, to the Board of Directors, as appropriate, and incorporate them
into corporate management. Additionally, we leverage input from Directors, including Independent Directors, to
enhance our engagement with shareholders and investors.
Our Structure for Engagement with Shareholders and Investors
At our company, we engage in investor relations activities, shareholder relations activities, statutory disclosures,
timely disclosures, and important voluntary disclosures through close collaboration between the management team, led
by the Representative Executive Officers and Co-Presidents, and the General Managers of relevant departments listed
below.
- Investor Relations
- Public Relations
- Finance & Accounting
- Corporate Governance
- Other relevant departments
Shareholder and Investor Engagement
Through fair and timely disclosure and ongoing dialogue with shareholders and investors in Japan and overseas, we aim
to deepen understanding of our commitment to maximizing EPS and strengthen confidence in the Company. We also seek
to reduce information asymmetry between the Company and the market and lower our cost of capital. Through these
efforts, we aim to maximize PER and ultimately achieve Maximization of Shareholder Value (MSV). To foster
constructive engagement with shareholders and investors, we also strive to understand our shareholder structure
while taking the utmost care to prevent the leakage of insider information.
In FY2025, we further strengthened communication with shareholders and investors to deepen understanding of our
unique value creation story, which centers on “Sustainable EPS Compounding” through both organic and inorganic
growth under our Asset Assembler model. During the year, we held IR meetings with 823 firms, up 2.1% year on year.
As part of our IR activities, we held a briefing session in April on updates to the Medium-Term Strategy, originally
announced in April 2024, with Co-President Wakatsuki as presenter. In July, we hosted a briefing on Integrated
Report 2025, which was published at the end of June. In October, we held Investor Tour 2025 at the Tokyo Innovation
Center, the Group’s core R&D hub in Japan, which was completed in March and began full-scale operations in July. In
November, we held IR DAY 2025, our second such event, featuring presentations on three themes: AOC’s competitive
advantages and business strategy, the business strategy of the NIPSEA Group (including NIPSEA China and the Türkiye
Group), and our M&A strategy.
Additionally, we have continued to focus on the proactive disclosure of information through numerous measures,
including the reinforcement and enhancement of our Integrated Report and IR website.
IR Disclosure and Activities -Initiatives to Enhance Shareholder Value Based on Dialogue with Investors-
We are continuously enhancing our IR activities, including our disclosures and IR initiatives such as the Integrated Report, through regular investor interviews and other measures (Production Process). Drawing on the feedback and requests we receive through dialogue with investors, we work to further enhance our disclosures, expand opportunities for dialogue, and better communicate employees’ voices and on-the-ground activities. Through these efforts, we aim to deepen understanding of our growth potential, profitability, and the replicability of our management approach, thereby supporting appropriate market valuation and enhancing shareholder value.
Enhancing disclosures
Investor feedback
- Clarifying the future vision and path to get there would support more informed investor assessment
- Showing a track record, rather than assurance alone, would strengthen investor understanding
- In highlighting PER, please also show how it relates to ROE and ROIC
Our perspective
We recognize there is further scope to communicate more clearly to investors the sustainability of our competitive advantages and strengths, our underlying earnings power, and how we compound EPS through both organic and inorganic growth. We will provide a consistent explanation of our track record from the past to the present, together with a clear path to future EPS growth from both organic and inorganic perspectives.
Key initiatives
Quarterly financial results presentation
- Disclosure of adjusted earnings to show our underlying earnings power
- Disclosure of growth rates broken down into sales volume, price/mix, and foreign exchange impact
- Provision of long-term historical performance summary data
- Breakdown of earnings contributions from organic and inorganic growth
Medium-Term Strategy presentation
- Disclosure of our track record of EPS compounding through organic and inorganic growth
- Disclosure of ROIC for individual companies, both including and excluding goodwill and intangible assets
- Disclosure of the path to continued EPS compounding through organic growth and M&A
Expanding opportunities for dialogue
Investor feedback
- Interested in hearing from local management what drives the strength of each business, including brand power
- Interested in knowing what is happening on the ground and why each business is strong
- Interested in learning more about drivers of profitability and value creation at AOC and NIPSEA China
Our perspective
To deepen understanding of our competitive advantages and growth potential, we believe it is important not only to communicate clearly through earnings presentation materials, the Integrated Report, and other disclosures, but also to provide ongoing opportunities for two-way dialogue with investors. Through IR DAY and investor meetings, we will address investors’ key interests and further enhance understanding of our strengths and the replicability of our growth.
Key initiatives
IR DAY
- Held annually since 2024, covering topics of strong interest to investors
- Addresses the business strategies of the NIPSEA Group and AOC, the brand strategies of DuluxGroup and the NIPSEA Group, M&A strategy, and governance
- Management responsible for each region and business present directly and participate in Q&A sessions
Investor meetings
- We have shifted our investor outreach priority from our traditional shareholder base in the chemicals and paint sector toward investors who focus on EPS Compounders
- In addition to the U.S. and Asia, we regularly visit global investors based in Europe and Canada
- Co-President Wakatsuki directly meets with approximately 300 investors each year
Better communicating employees’ voices and on-the-ground activities
Investor feedback
- Interested in gaining a real sense of the strengths of local operations and frontline teams, and of what enables each business to win in its market
- Greater visibility into corporate culture and depth of talent would reinforce confidence in the sustainability of growth
- In addition to the Integrated Report, business briefings and factory tours would also be valuable
Our perspective
Our sustained growth is driven not only by strategy and financial results, but also by the execution capabilities of our frontline operations, the depth of our talent, and our corporate culture that support them. We therefore believe it is important to communicate more clearly the strength of our frontline capabilities and of our people and organization, which are the source of our competitive advantage, by more fully highlighting the people, frontline operations, and organizational capabilities behind the numbers.
Key initiatives
Website
- Supplementary case studies and basic information that complement the Integrated Report are published and expanded on our website and in our Investor Book
- Our sustainability initiatives, along with our people on the ground—their voices, perspectives, and the realities they face firsthand—are clearly presented through images, videos, and other formats
- Articles from industry publications are published on our website to give investors a better understanding of frontline operations and the people on the ground (only available in Japanese)
Investor Tour
- Held the Investor Tour 2025 to help investors understand and experience firsthand our R&D activities, as well as the atmosphere and energy on the ground
- The CTO directly explained the advantages of our R&D and technological capabilities, and how LSI (Leveraging, Sharing, and Integration) will serve as a source of future EPS growth
IR events held (times)
FY2019
FY2020
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
Teleconference on financial results
Briefing for institutional investors
Briefing for individual investors
Number of IR meetings held (firms)
FY2019
FY2020
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
Meeting with domestic investors
Meeting with international investors
(Meeting with domestic and international ESG investors)
