Topy Industries, Limited Business Report FY2009

Business Highlights

Financial Overview

(in million JPY)
  FY2009 FY2008 Rate of
change (%)
Factors
Overall
Sales 196,848 290,333 (32.2) -Sales decreased due to a substantial decrease in demand at the iron and steel business division and the automotive/industrial machinery parts business division, which support the Company's core business areas.
Operating income 355 6,686 (94.7) -
Ordinary income 626 6,010 (89.6) -
Current net income (1,032) 2,384 - -Current net income turned negative as a result of the Company posting an extraordinary loss resulting from consolidating its aluminum wheel production facilities. 
Automotive/industrial component business
Sales 106,977 153,827 (30.5) -Sales and operating income decreased because the sales volume dropped substantially due to a decline in demand mainly for truck and bus wheels, super-sized wheels used in coal-mining equipment, and suspension parts used in construction machinery.
Operating income 792 3,059 (74.1)

Recent Developments in Japan

-The Company announced on August 18, 2009 that it will consolidate its domestic production operations for aluminum wheels. In addition to enhancing production efficiency and slashing fixed expenses, the company intends to shift its production focus in the segment to high value-added products. Topy Industries currently manufactures aluminum wheels at both its Toyokawa Factory in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture and Kyushu Wheel Kogyo, Ltd., which is its subsidiary located in Kandamachi, Fukuoka. Production operations at the Toyokawa Factory are planned to be integrated into Kyushu Wheel by the end of December 2009. The Toyokawa facility will be thereafter positioned as the Group's development base for aluminum wheels to engage in research and development of new products and technologies. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Aug. 19, 2009)

Recent Developments outside Japan

-The Company will acquire 49.33 percent equity share of Fujian Yuan Shing Topy, Ltd. (Fujian Province, China) for 3.5 million US dollars and raise its shareholding in the Fujian facility from current 34.00 to 83.33 percent, making it its subsidiary. The acquisition is expected to further increase the Topy Group's presence in the Chinese automotive wheel market. (From a press release, April 23, 2009)

>>>Financial Forecast for the Next Fiscal Year (Sales, Operating Income etc.)

R&D

R&D Expenditure

(in million JPY)
  FY2009 FY2008 FY2007
Group 1,288 1,649 1,576
Automotive& Industrial
Machinery Components
747 926 991

Automotive & Industrial Machinery Components
-The Company conducted research on solutions that reduce weight, improve quality, cut costs, and reduce development lead time. It also did research and development on new products.

-The Company achieved favorable results for its mainstay products, namely automotive steel and aluminum wheels, in terms of improving the accuracy of technology to conduct analysis and evaluations, developing and mass-producing new products, cutting costs, and improving the quality of existing products.

-The Company announced that it has developed a 15% lighter wheel for large-size commercial vehicles and it will start the mass production in March 2010. The new wheel will be compatible with the ISO method to be adopted for installing commercial vehicle wheels from October 2010. Its unique technology and production method, aimed at reducing the required material volume, have successfully decreased the wheel weight. This ISO compatible lightweight wheel has been newly developed based on two new technologies of "the corrugated rim" and "the ECOD disc." The corrugated rim is manufactured from the unequally pressured steel sheet whose one side is corrugated while the other is flat, in an aim to achieve optimal distribution of steel thickness when processed into the rim. The ECOD disc is manufactured from the cylinder shape steel sheet by the cold orbital forging process. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Nov. 10, 2009)

-The Company announced that it has developed a new steel wheel for passenger vehicles, which uses steel sheet having the high tensile strength of 980MPa for the first time. The new steel wheel, which features a 65 percent improvement in strength level, also achieves a 20 percent reduction in weight compared with conventional steel wheels. The company developed new welding and forming methods for the wheel rim supporting the tire, so that the highly tensile 980MPa steel sheet can be used there. In addition, by changing both design and thickness distribution of the wheel, the company was able to employ 780MPa steel sheet for the wheel disc, which is attached to the hub. These breakthroughs lead to the development of a significantly high-strength steel wheel, which, in terms of product weight, can even compete with aluminum wheels. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Nov. 20, 2009)

Investment Activities

Capital Expenditure

(in million JPY)
  FY2009 FY2008 FY2007
Group 7,659 12,401 10,907
Automotive& Industrial
Machinery Components
452 7,782 7,599