NOK Corporation Business report FY2007

Business Highlights

Financial overview

In million yen	FY 2007	FY 2006	Rate of Change(%)	Factors
Overall
Sales	526,331	479,815	9.7	-
Operating income	42,465	41,657	1.9
Ordinary income	44,812	45,399	(1.3)
Current net income	25,843	24,793	4.2
Sealing product division
Sales	283,743	213,869	11.1	Sales and operating income increased year-on-year, thanks to increased export volume and greater production volume mainly in North America and Asia of Japanese brand vehicles.
Operating income	25,956	17,466	29.3

Domestic business
- In March 2008, the Company completed constructing a new plant within the premises of its Nihonmatsu Plant in Fukushima Prefecture. The new facility, which has a total floor area of 19,122 square meters, will specialize in making bonded piston seals (BPSs) used in oil seals of automatic transmission vehicles. The addition will enable the Company to achieve a seamless manufacturing structure for BPSs; from production of metal products, bonding, up to shipping of products, as demand for BPSs is on the rise. In order to minimize environmental impact, the new plant is equipped with machinery that require a limited amount of solvents.

Overseas business
<Vietnam>
In April 2007, the Company began operations at its new O-ring facility at Vietnam NOK Co., Ltd. in Vietnam, which manufacture oil seals at its existing plant. In the meanwhile, Vietnam NOK will manufacture 4 million oil seals and 5 million O-rings per month, targeting the Japanese market. It intends to launch commercial full-scale operations by fiscal 2009, with a monthly production volume of 10 million oil seals and 20 million O-rings. Then in 2010, NOK Vietnam will launch construction of its second oil-seal plant.

>>>See Capital Investment for more details

<U.SA,>
Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, which is a joint-venture company formed by the Company and Freudenberg, announced that it has acquired the assets of Precision Industries Corporation of Germantown, Wisconsin, a developer and manufacturer of specialized custom diaphragms. This acquisition provides Freudenberg-NOK with the desired fabric reinforced diaphragm capabilities in North America, as well as on a global basis with its partners in Europe and Japan. (From a press release on Oct. 31, 2007)

Three-year business plan (April 2007 through March 2010)
Financial targets:
- Sales: 600 billion yen
- Operating income: 62 billion yen
- ROA: 6.6 percent

R&D

R&D costs for fiscal 2007 were 9,149 million yen, of which 7,600 million yen was allocated for seal products.

< Sealing product division >
-The Company developed low friction oil seals that have the same performance as conventional seals in terms of sealing but with improved performance in terms of lower friction. The Company released these new oil seals for use in vehicles.
- The Company was successful in commercializing some encoding seals (which use magnetic rubber) used for integrated vehicle control. This includes controlling the vehicle's speed, for example. The Company is currently developing encoders, giving them more precision-level magnetization and greater functions, creating multi-task encoders.
-In the area of fuel-cell parts, the Company developed seals for fuel cells, humidification film modules, materials used for gas diffusion layers (non-woven carbon fabrics) and other products. It is now testing the products on vehicles.

Technical cooperation agreement (as of March 2008)

Partner	Content	Signed on
Freudenberg(Germany)	Introduction and licensing of such seal product as oil seal, O ring and related technologies	Jan. 8th 1989

Joint venture agreement (as of March 2008)

Joint venture partner	Content	Name of the joint venture company	Signed on
Freudenberg GmbH (Germany)	A joint venture in the field of such seal products as oil seal and O ring and related products between NOK Inc, a US subsidiary, and Freudenberg's US subsidiary	Freudenberg NOK GP	March 23, 1989

Investment Activities

A total of 60,881 million yen was invested during FY2007, of which 38,986 million yen was appropriated for the sealing business.

<Sealing business (automotive products)>
Japan
The Company is working on revamping its pre-treatment lines at the Fukushima Plant and Shizuoka Plant.

Overseas :
The Company focused its investment activities on improving production structures at Thai NOK Co., Ltd.; Vietnam NOK Co., Ltd.; and Unimatec Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Recent investment project
<Vietnam>
The Company will start to construct a second plant in Viet Nam in 2010. A new plant building will be set up on the current plant site or the adjoining site the Company has obtained assuming future expansion, and new production lines for oil seals and O rings will be introduced. Since the existing production lines are expected to reach full capacity in fiscal 2009, which is the last year of its current mid-term business plan, the Company will start the second phase expansion in the first year of the next mid-term business plan. Products manufactured there will be exported to Asian countries including Japan to enhance price competitiveness. The new plant building will be constructed on the site of Vietnam NOK Co., Ltd., which was established in September 2004. Its first plant started operation in July 2007 to produce oil seals and O rings. It currently produces about 4 million oil seals and 5 million O rings per month which are exported mainly to Japan. As the Company expands the market to across Asia, it plans to increase the capacity at full operation to 10 million oil seals and 20 million O rings in 2009. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on Dec. 5, 2007)

New Facilities (Seal Business)

Name of Company and Facility (Location)	Location	Facility	Expected Investment (millions of yen)	Started	Expected to Complete in:
NOK Fukushima Plant	Fukushima Prefecture, Japan	Plant for manufacturing oil seals	11,120	Apr. 2008	Mar. 2012
Thai NOK Co., Ltd. Panthong Plant	Chonburi, Thailand	Plant for manufacturing rubber cushions	3,760	Jun. 2007	Dec. 2008

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