Message from Management

Our Commitment to MSV Journey

In 2025, the second year following the launch of the Medium-Term Strategy in April 2024, our Group achieved profit growth exceeding the global market average, notwithstanding a persistently challenging operating environment. Both revenue and operating profit reached record highs, and earnings per share surpassed our initial guidance. These results offer further testament to the effectiveness of our Asset Assembler model. At the same time, we do not believe that our share price, as an expression of the capital markets’ assessment, yet fully reflects the strength of our Group or the scope of its future potential. In our view, a gap remains between our MSV Journey and the market’s expectations of it. Closing this gap is now a clear and pressing priority.

We accept this difficult reality with open eyes and candor. Market valuations are not determined by the level to which a company aspires; rather, they represent the capital markets’ integrated assessment of the quality of earnings built over time, the repeatability of those results, and expectations for the future. For this reason, we do not lament the market’s judgment itself. Instead, we confront directly the factors underlying this clear and persistent gap, and we continue to ask what must be done to close it.

Maximization of Shareholder Value (MSV), the sole mission of our Group, is not a slogan; it is the governing principle that informs every decision we make. We do not assess opportunities by the scale of a business or by how they may appear. Rather, we ask a single, overriding question: will this truly create shareholder value? This discipline is paramount, and it leaves no room for management ego.

By its nature, MSV cannot be realized overnight. What matters is that we fully unlock the potential of each partner company, steadily build earnings through both organic and inorganic growth, and continue to demonstrate our ability to deliver through sustained performance. Our Asset Assembler model is the mechanism that makes this possible and the engine that propels our MSV Journey forward.

That said, the mere accumulation of a track record is not sufficient. The trust of the capital markets is earned through both consistent results and the candid, sincere dialogue that supports them. We will deliver steadily on the commitments we make to investors and continue to demonstrate those results through our track record. At the same time, we will deepen that dialogue by speaking with candor not only about what is going well, but also about the challenges and uncertainties we face.

The MSV Journey is not always a smooth one. Yet it is a deeply meaningful pursuit of the unlimited upside of shareholder value. For this reason, each step forward calls for steadfast management resolve. Without turning away from difficult realities, we will continue to build our track record and deepen our dialogue, thereby elevating the market’s expectations and advancing steadily toward the realization of MSV.

We trust that this Integrated Report provides a clear and compelling account of that journey.