Fuji Kiko Co., Ltd. Business Report FY ended Mar. 2014

Business Highlights

Financial Overview

(in million JPY)
  FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 Rate of
Change (%)
Remarks
Overall
Sales 104,003 103,068 0.9 -Sales at the steering column and power-train businesses increased, while those at the seat business fell.
Operating income 7,052 5,476 28.8 -
Ordinary income 7,554 5,905 27.9 -
Net income 4,144 3,486 18.9 -

New Company

<Germany>
-The Company will establish a new joint venture (JV) for producing and selling seat parts in Wuppertal, the suburb of Dusseldorf in Germany. The JV is established with Fisher Dynamics Germany GmbH of the U.S. The new JV is tentatively named Fuji Kiko Fisher Dynamics Automotive Europe GmbH and will be established in February 2014. The JV is capitalized at EUR 2 million, 51% of which is invested by Fuji Kiko and 49% by Fisher Dynamics. With this fourth plant in Europe, Fuji Kiko intends to expand its seat parts sales in Europe. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on January 30, 2014)

<China>
-The Company announced that it will set up a new Chinese joint venture in Fuzhou, Fujian Province to develop and sell mechanical structural parts for use in automotive seats. The new company, Fu Chong (Fuzhou) Engineering Co., Ltd., is scheduled to be established on September 30 and is expected to start operations in October this year. Capitalized at USD 500,000 (approximately JPY 50 million), the new company will be owned 70 percent by Fuji Kiko and 30 percent by Hsin Chong International Investment Ltd. of the British Virgin Islands. In addition to seat mechanical parts, the new company's product range extends to transmission shifters and other components. Fuji Kiko is poised to enhance its local development capability, aiming to expand business with Chinese automakers. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on August 2, 2013)

<Mexico>
-The Company said that it will establish a new subsidiary in the suburbs of Aguascalientes, Mexico to produce and sell automatic transmission shifters and other auto parts. The new company will supply products that meet the needs of the growing Mexican market. The subsidiary, Fujikiko Mexico, S.A. de C.V., will be capitalized at USD 2.6 million (approximately JPY 254.80 million), which will be fully invested by Fuji Kiko. It will be formed in September 2013 and begin production in 2015 to serve Japanese automakers' plants in Mexico and other countries in the Americas. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Jun 25, 2013)

Restructuring

Washizu Plant to cease production of seat components and steering columns
-The Company will reorganize automotive part production in Japan. The Company will discontinue automotive seat part production at the Washizu plant (located in Kosai, Shizuoka) by March 2015. Most production operations at the plant will be discontinued and shifted to other plants in the same time frame. The seat part production will be shifted to the Company's plants in Kanto, Chubu, and Kyushu regions. Production of steering columns at the Washizu plant will also be shifted to the Arai plant (located in Kosai, Shizuoka). Recently, Fuji Kiko's plants in Japan have been operating at very low rates due to a decrease in production volume of automobiles in Japan and an increase in orders for a wide variety of parts in small quantity. By consolidating production lines, the Company hopes to raise its overall operation rate. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on December 3, 2013)

Outlook for FY ending Mar. 31, 2015

(in million JPY)
  FY ending Mar. 31, 2015
(Forecast)
FY ended Mar. 31, 2014
(Actual Results)
Rate of Change
(%)
Sales 104,000 104,003 (0.0)
Operating income 6,700 7,052 (5.0)
Ordinary income 7,000 7,554 (7.3)
Net income 4,800 4,144 15.8

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

R&D

R&D Expenses

(in million JPY)
  FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 FY ended Mar. 31, 2012
Steering column business 1,162 991 914
Seating business 487 492 489
Powertrain business 206 348 319
Total 1,856 1,831 1,722

R&D Structure

-R&D activities are basically being conducted by the Company, meaning that the Company in Japan supports its subsidiaries overseas by conducting all basic development activities up to the prototype stage. The subsidiaries then take over from the trial-production stage, making further product developments appropriate for the actual vehicle models.
-Currently, the Company has 335 members working in R&D, including members working in prototypes and testing.
-As of the end of March 2014, the Company has 410 industrial property rights (175 in Japan, and 235 outside Japan).

R&D Activities

Steering column business
-The Company is working to reduce product costs and weight while trying to improve safety and product appeal. It will do this by improving the level of plastic forming technologies it uses. It plans to achieve this by reaching the required level of functions and performance demanded for steering columns by utilizing the most optimal mechanisms and designs.

-The Company is addressing the issues and needs surrounding globalization; enhancing its framework for conducting development activities in three regions (Japan, Europe, and the U.S.A.); and improving its competitive edge and product lineup by taking customer demand in the U.S.A. and Europe into consideration.

-The Company is jointly developing future technologies and products with automakers and system manufacturers to improve running performance.

Seating business
-The Company worked on developing functional core components and systems used in seats, such as seat recliners, height adjusters, slidesand lock. In response to the growing needs for environmental measures, safety, and comfort, the Company is engaged in reducing the size, weight and cost of products, as well as improving their strength and functions in addition.

-In order to produce seats locally in China, the Company established an R&D center in the country. This center is currently developing materials and production methods.

-The Company is developing products that can satisfy the seating layouts used in RV vehicles, hoping to improve their usability so as to satisfy increasingly diverse customers' demands.

-The Company conducted joint development activities with Tachi-S Co., Ltd., taking in development staff from the other company. The aim is to benefit from synergy effects found between the companies, which include, for example, improvement of development speed.

Powertrain Business
-The Company, in creating automatic-transmission shifters that offer even more competitive advantages through cost and weight reductions, is developing standard type shifters. Also, the Company is currently developing more compact products for the future in responding to improving product appeal by enhancing product feel and sound.

-In order to strengthen its competitive advantages in the power-train business, such as making its drive plates lighter and lower in price, the Company continued R&D activities by making use of the expertise it has in its proprietary plastic processing technology and analytical technology.

-The Company is developing components for heavy vehicles such as manual-transmission and automatic-transmission control parts, based on its customers' specifications.
 

Technology Licensing-in Agreement

(As of Mar. 31, 2014)
Country Licenser Content Period
Liechtenstein ThyssenKrupp Presta AG Patent cross license agreement for steering columns Jul. 30, 2007 - Apr. 17, 2017

Technology Licensing-out Agreement

(As of Mar. 31, 2014)
Country Licensee Content Period
Taiwan Taiwan Atsugi Co., Ltd. Production technology for steering columns Oct. 6, 1992 - Oct. 5, 2013
(Automatic renewal)
Taiwan Hsin Chong Machinery Works Co., Ltd. Production technology for seat reclining devices 5 years from Mar. 18, 2008 or the production life of the specific vehicle models
Spain Ficosa International S.A. Production technology for A/T shifters Jun. 20, 2011 -
(for as long as the subject vehicles are still under production)

Investment Activities

Capital Expenditure

(in million JPY)
  FY ended Mar. 31, 2014 FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 FY ended Mar. 31, 2012
Steering column business 3,512 2,306 1,413
Seating business 1,941 2,464 538
Powertrain business 256 334 154
Others - - 140
Total 5,710 5,105 2,246

-In the fiscal year that ended Mar. 31, 2014, the Company invested to increase the production capacity at its facilities in emerging countries such as Mexico and Thailand, and prepare its production facilities in North America and Europe to respond to new orders.

Planned Capital Investments

(As of Mar. 31, 2014)
Company Name Location Business Planned investment
(in million JPY)
Start Completion Production capacity increase on completion
New Facilities
The Company,
Washizu Plant
Shizuoka Pref., Japan Seating business 962 Aug.
2013
Mar.
2015
No change
The Company,
Arai Plant
Shizuoka Pref., Japan Steering column business 1,806 Jun.
2013
Mar.
2015
No change
The Company,
Honjo Plant
Saitama Pref.,
Japan
Powertrain business 111 Jun.
2013
Mar.
2015
No change
Fuji Autotech France S.A.S Valentigney,
France
Steering column business 708 Apr.
2014
Mar.
2015
No change
Fujikiko Tachi-S Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Aguascalientes,
Mexico
Seating business 631 Apr.
2014
Mar.
2015
No change
Improvements
The Company,
Washizu Plant
Shizuoka Pref., Japan Seating business 7 Aug.
2014
Nov.
2014
No change