Engagement with Shareholders and Investors

In order to meet the trust and expectations of shareholders and investors and allow them to deepen their understanding of the Company, Hitachi Cable is working to strengthen communication with them through various media and events.

Principle of Disclosure

Hitachi Cable maintains strict adherence to fair and transparent activities. In line with this principle, the Company promotes corporate management and business operations by respecting trust-based relationships with customers, shareholders and investors, society, and other stakeholders.
More specifically, in disclosing important information relating to Hitachi Cable and its Group companies, in addition to the above principle, we closely adhere to the policy of valuing speed and timeliness, we observe related laws and regulations and the guidelines and internal rules of financial instrument exchanges, and we work to comprehensively understand and manage the information to be disclosed and ensure that such content is appropriate and accurate.

Shares and Shareholders Information

As of March 31, 2010, the number of shares issued and outstanding was 374,018,174 shares, held by a total of 22,331 shareholders. The composition of shareholders is comprised of domestic financial institutions (about 17%), individual investors (about 17%), overseas investors (about 10%) and domestic corporations, including Hitachi, Ltd. (about 53%), plus the company's own shares (about 3%).

Basic Policy on Profit Sharing

Taking such factors as performance status, the strengthening of our business structure and future business strategies into consideration, we properly distribute the profit we make through business to shareholders.
With regard to paying dividends based on surplus profit, we value stability in terms of the amount and frequency of dividend payments, while giving due consideration to our business performance. We effectively use internal reserves to invest in promising operations and to vitalize existing businesses while maintaining a sound financial standing and working to strengthen it. Furthermore, regarding the repurchase of shares as an effective measure to distribute profit to shareholders, we undertake share buybacks as appropriate by taking into account share price trends and financial conditions. The annual dividend for FY2010 was 5.00 yen per share.

Communication with Shareholders and Investors

Hosting IR Events

For securities analysts and institutional investors, we host a results briefing on the day of account settlement announcement every quarter, as well as meetings to explain management policies and business details when appropriate. As a most recent example, we held a meeting on April 30, 2010 to introduce details of our new Plan "BRIDGE" medium-term management plan, which covers the period from fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2013.
For people who cannot attend said briefings and meetings, we provide meeting minutes and other related materials online. In addition, for analysts and investors, we respond to individual inquiries, hold various other types of meetings and offer factory tours.

Perception Study

In fiscal 2010, we conducted a perception study of 19 security analysts. Management considered this feedback and made use of the results in creating a new Medium- Term Management Plan.

Providing Shareholders and Investors with Information

We send Hitachi Cable News—a brief business report— to shareholders at the end of the second quarter and at the end of the fiscal year to inform them of our performance and provide a business overview for each period in an easy-to-understand manner. As a means of disclos-ing information to shareholders and investors in a prompt and fair manner, we make full use of the Internet. To provide individual investors with information equivalent to that offered to institutional investors, the latest IR information— including news releases, financial results, materials used in various explanatory meetings and details of Q&A sessions in explanatory meetings—is available on our IR website. We have also established a dedicated website for individual investors and are constantly endeavoring to strengthen the content of the website. Moreover, we offer a service that sends registered users e-mail* notices of any updates made to our website.
For overseas investors, we issue annual reports and distribute information in English via the Internet, including news releases and summaries of explanatory meetings on business and financial results. Through these and other activities, we have established a structure to deliver our corporate information in the most appropriate manner to overseas shareholders and investors.

* Only available in Japanese.

External appraisal in relation to IR In order to realize fair and prompt information disclosure, Hitachi Cable continuously makes efforts to improve IR activities, including the utilization of its website. In FY2010, we received the following evaluations from external organizations in relation to our attitude toward IR activities and conditions of information disclosure.   Companies with Excellent Disclosure Selected by Securities Analysts In the 2009 Awards for Excellence in Corporate Disclosure, organized by the Corporate Disclosure Study Group of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan, Hitachi Cable ranked third in the Iron & Steel/Non-Ferrous Metal category (the top in the cable industry). Specifically, the Company received high praise for the strong explanations and elucidating materials it uses at its results briefing sessions and for its acceptance of interviews to promote better understanding of the content of these materials, as well as for other efforts it makes to continuously enhance its disclosure activities.   2009 All Listed Company Website Ranking   In the Fiscal 2009 Listed Company Website Quality Ranking, announced on November 25, 2009 by Nikko Investor Relations Co., Ltd., Hitachi Cable was ranked 19th among all companies listed in Japan, totaling 3,779. In the Non-Ferrous Metal category, the Company received the top ranking for the second consecutive year.   Award for Excellence in Internet Investor Relations   On April 24, 2009, Hitachi Cable was selected as one of 580 companies that maintain outstanding Internet IR websites by Daiwa Investor Relations Co., Ltd. This represented the fourth consecutive year for its selection to this group.   Excellent Company Award in Internet Investor Relations   On December 18, 2009, Hitachi Cable was presented an Award of Excellence in the 2009 Internet IR Awards, announced by Daiwa Investor Relations Co., Ltd.   General Ranking of IR Websites   Hitachi Cable was selected as one of the 110 Excellent Companies in the General Ranking of IR Websites in March 2009, announced by Gomez Consulting Co., Ltd. on April 15, 2009. The Company was also selected as one of the 127 Excellent Companies in the General Ranking of IR Websites, announced by Gomez Consulting on April 14, 2010, marking the fourth consecutive year of winning this honor.