Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Business Report FY ended Mar. 2020
Financial Overview |
(in millions of JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2020 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2019 | Rate of Change (%) | Main factors | |
| Overall | ||||
| Sales | 1,534,045 | 1,575,026 | (2.6) | -Sales decreased due to lower sales volumes of plastic multilayer circuit boards, lithium-ion secondary batteries, and multilayer ceramic condensers for smartphones, although sales of multilayered ceramic condensers for main markets and the electronics market increased. |
| Operating income | 253,247 | 266,807 | (5.1) | -Although cost-cutting initiatives and other factors contributed to increase income, there were greater negative factors impacting income such as lower operating capacity, falling product selling prices, increased depreciation expenses, and the suspension of plant operations outside Japan caused by the coronavirus pandemic. |
| Profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent | 183,012 | 206,930 | (11.6) | - |
| Automotive Electronics | ||||
| Sales | 263,500 | 257,100 | 2.5 | 1) |
Factors
1) Sales of Products Used For Car Electronics
-Sales of automotive multilayer ceramic condensers increased 2.5% year-on-year, thanks to the ongoing increase in sales of parts, even though unit sales of new vehicles decreased. Also, sales of lithium-ion batteries for electric-powered bicycles decreased, although there were some positive factors also.
R&D Expenditure |
(in millions of JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2020 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2019 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2018 | |
| Components | 50,199 | 49,222 | 46,909 |
| Modules | 34,865 | 34,763 | 30,425 |
| Others | - | - | - |
| Headquarters | 17,422 | 17,604 | 16,847 |
| Total | 102,486 | 101,589 | 94,181 |
Product Developments
Developed an ultrasound sensor that can detect close distances of 10 centimeters
-Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Murata Manufacturing) has developed an ultrasonic sensor that can detect a short range of 10 cm. When ultrasonic vibration is generated, ultrasonic sensors don’t receive reflecting waves for a certain period of time because of reverberation vibrations. The new ultrasonic sensor can receive reflecting waves in a short time by forcefully stopping reverberation vibrations. Compared to existing sensors, the new ultrasonic sensor can detect objects in a shorter range (minimum detection range is 20 cm shorter), and enables parking in narrower spaces. It is expected to be used for parking assistance systems, and mass production will start around 2023. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on October 2, 2019)
Capital Expenditure |
(in millions of JPY) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2020 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2019 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2018 | |
| Expansion and rationalization of production facilities | 110,103 | 200,910 | 194,101 |
| Expansion of R&D facilities | 14,871 | 14,890 | 15,634 |
| Acquisition of land and buildings | 116,549 | 39,827 | 57,638 |
| Total | 281,599 | 291,581 | 306,608 |
Planned Capital Investments |
(As of Mar. 31, 2020) |
| Facility (Location) |
Location | Targets of investments | Planned amount of investment (million yen) |
From | To |
| Fukui Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Echizen, Fukui Pref. |
Facilities for manufacturing components | 30,000 | Apr. 2020 | Mar. 2021 |
| Okayama Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Setouchi, Okayama Pref. |
Facilities for manufacturing components and modules | 27,000 | Apr. 2020 | Mar. 2021 |
| Izumo Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Izumo, Shimane Pref. |
Facilities for manufacturing components | 20,000 | Apr. 2020 | Mar. 2021 |
| Murata Manufacturing Company, Ltd. Yasu Division | Yasu, Shiga Pref. |
Facilities to manufacture semi-finished products and to conduct R&D activities | 16,000 | Apr. 2020 | Mar. 2021 |
| Wuxi Murata Electronics Co., Ltd. | Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China |
Facilities for manufacturing components | 11,000 | Apr. 2020 | Mar. 2021 |
| Philippine Manufacturing Co. of Murata, Inc. | Batangas, Philippine |
Facilities for manufacturing components | 10,000 | Apr. 2020 | Mar. 2021 |
Investment in Japan
Launched construction of a new production building at Okayama Murata Manufacturing
-Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. announced on December 24 that its manufacturing subsidiary, Okayama Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture) will start the construction of a new production building this month. The company will establish a system to deal with medium- and long-term increases in demand for ceramic automotive parts and demand for use in highly-functional electric devices, with the acceleration of vehicle electrification. The new plant building will be steel-framed, seven stories high, and will have a total floor area of about 33,000 square meters on about 5,300 square meters of land. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on December 26, 2019)
Completed new production plant at Izumo Murata Manufacturing
-On December 18, Izumo Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture), also a manufacturing subsidiary, completed the construction of a new production building that was started in October 2018. Izumo Murata Manufacturing has spent about JPY 40 billion for the new plant building, which has a four-story steel frame structure, with a total floor area of about 41,000 square meters on about 10,000 square meters of land. The subsidiary will also cope with growing demand for automotive ceramic parts. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on December 26, 2019)
Completed construction of new production plant at Fukui Murata Manufacturing
-Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Murata Manufacturing) announced the completion of a new production building at its production subsidiary, Fukui Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The construction of this production building began in September 2018. The total investment amount for the building is around JPY 29 billion. The completion of the new production building will enable the company to build a system able to respond to the anticipated increase in demand for ceramic components over the medium-to long-term. The expected demand will primarily be driven by the increasing sophistication of electronic devices and the electrification of vehicles. (From a press release dated February 4, 2020)
Investment in outside of Japan
Completed construction of new production plant at subsidiary Murata Electronics (Malaysia)
-Murata Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn.Bhd, a Malaysian production subsidiary of Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Murata Manufacturing), announced that it has completed the construction of a production facility. The total floor area of the new production building is 23,007 square meter and total investment amount for the building is around JPY 4 billion. The company aims to expand its manufacturing capacity in response to rising demand for electronic components for mobile devices as well as vehicles. (From a press release dated February 12, 2020)
Completed construction of new production plant at Murata Electronics Oy (Finland)
-Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Murata Manufacturing) announced the completion of a new plant building at its production subsidiary, Murata Electronics Oy (Finland). The new building is mainly for the production of autonomous driving MEMS sensors. The subsidiary has spent about JPY 5 billion for the new plant building, which is five stories high and has a total floor area of 16,000 square meters. It has a special vibration absorbing structure to block external vibrations for performance tests that need to be precise. For the high performance and electrification of automobiles, MEMS sensors are required to offer high measurement precision and stable performance. Murata Manufacturing aims to meet this requirement by utilizing the synergy between its processing technology and the subsidiary’s MEMS technology. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on February 5, 2020)