Sekisui Chemical Co Ltd

TSE:4204

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q2

[Keita Kato, executive]

I'm Keita Kato, President of Sekisui Chemical. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join our earnings call today. On October 25, we made a timely disclosure on the recording of extraordinary loss and revision of financial results forecast. In the press release, we provided information on the impairment loss book at SEKISUI AEROSPACE as well as a revision made on the first half earnings guidance.

SEKISUI AEROSPACE is a business we acquired in November 2019, which engages in the business of composite molded products such as CFRP, mainly catering to the aircraft market in the U.S. I would like to apologize to our shareholders and investors for any concerns we may have caused with respect to this impairment loss. And I will explain the current status and future developments of SEKISUI AEROSPACE in more details later.

Now let me start my presentation by going through the slides. Please refer to the page number at the bottom right of the slide. I'd like to start with the results for the first half of FY '21. As you can see on the first page, the exchange rate for the first half settled at JPY 110 to the dollar, which was JPY 2 weaker than our assumption.

Page 2 outlines the profit and loss for the first half. The renovation business in the Housing Company and some businesses of UIEP, Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products Company, were affected by the prolonged impact of COVID-19. From the second quarter onwards, the impact of the sharp rise in raw material prices became apparent in all companies, but HPP, the High Performance Plastics Company, led the way and the group achieved a total net sales of JPY 547.9 billion, a significant revenue growth of JPY 57.9 billion, and operating income of JPY 35.5 billion, a substantial increase of JPY 13.1 billion.

We exceeded our operating income forecast announced in July in all segments. Ordinary income also grew sharply by JPY 20.3 billion to JPY 41 billion due to foreign exchange gains and less miscellaneous expenses. With SEKISUI AEROSPACE's impairment loss of JPY 49.5 billion on goodwill and other assets due to the prolonged slump in aircraft demand, the bottom line was a net loss of JPY 3.9 billion. Despite that, we will pay an interim dividend of JPY 24 per share, an increase of JPY 1 as planned.

Page 3 shows the results by divisional companies. In addition to the lingering effect of COVID-19 and the heightened pressure of soaring raw material prices that I mentioned earlier, the impact of auto production cut due to shortage of semiconductors had also exacerbated. However, as indicated by the red outlined boxes in the table, each segment achieved a significant increase in operating income, and in total achieved JPY 35.5 billion, outperforming the July guidance by JPY 3.9 billion.

Although HPP, mainly the Mobility business, was affected by the chip shortage, the 3 strategic fields achieved significant revenue and profit growth driven by the sales volume and product mix factor. In the Housing Company, orders were strong, up 11% from the previous year, mainly driven by the subdivision housing and ready-built housing business. Fixed costs were controlled, resulting in higher sales and profits, exceeding the forecast announced in July.

Although UIEP was affected by the surge in raw material prices and a delay in the recovery of nonresidential demand stemming from the prolonged effects of COVID-19, the business was able to secure higher profit by striving to improve selling prices, expanding sales of prioritized products, and controlling fixed costs. The actual results exceeded the guidance announced in July.

In the Medical Business, sales and profits increased significantly due to a steady recovery in demand for testing both in Japan and overseas exceeding the July guidance and reaching a record high first half operating income of JPY 4.9 billion.

Page 4 illustrates the quarterly results for Q1 and Q2 for respective divisional companies. In the second quarter, although the impact of the sharp rise in raw material prices and the shortage of semiconductors increased, we were able to continue to grow sales and profits in each segment by implementing measures, including improving the selling prices.

Page 5 shows the analysis of the first half results. The right side shows the factors behind the increase and decrease in operating income. The impact of the sharp rise in raw material prices was negative JPY 11.8 billion year-on-year, which was more severe than what we anticipated back in July. However, we were still able to achieve a significant increase in both sales and profit on a consolidated basis, driven by much higher positive impact from sales volume and product mix, mainly in HPP, as well as improvement on selling prices and controlling fixed cost, and we outperformed the July guidance.

Using Page 6, I'd like to take give more details on SEKISUI AEROSPACE's impairment loss that I mentioned at the outset. In November 2019, we acquired SEKISUI AEROSPACE with the aim of entering the aviation field in earnest as part of our Mobility field expansion. Unfortunately, after the acquisition, the demand for aircrafts dropped sharply due to COVID-19 and the demand remains to be weak today. As shown by the table and the rate of production of major aircraft models over key clients, demand has been sluggish for a long time.

In the lower left, the performance of SEKISUI AEROSPACE CORPORATION is illustrated. Sales have continued to decline due to the prolonged slump in demand. The outlook for the recovery in the aircraft market is still uncertain, and we judge that the recovery of SEKISUI AEROSPACE performance will be limited for the next few years, which led us to book this impairment loss. Amid such drastic change in the business environment, we have been taking measures that we could proactively take, namely structural reform to create a production structure that corresponds to the actual demand.

We have closed one production base, reduced our workforce by more than 60%, and halved our labor costs compared to FY '19. We have also continued our efforts to improve productivity. In terms of future development, as shown by the diagram on the upper right, we will further accelerate the development of new applications such as in the medical field and automotive parts by utilizing Sekisui Chemical's global sales channels and capitalizing on our strong CFRP molding technology. In terms of production, we will also leverage on thermoplastic CFRP prepreg technology to further improve the productivity of molded products.

On top of the expansion of our current business domains, we will continue to expand our business boundary and transform our portfolio by leveraging these trends. In terms of sales composition by field, we have already achieved $11 million sales synergy in FY '20. We will seek further synergies and build our track record in the new fields to mitigate our dependence on the aircraft market, which currently accounts for more than 80%, and diversify our revenue stream.

We believe that the need for weight reduction in the Mobility field will continue to grow, and we also believe that the aircraft-related demand should recover and grow as a promising business field, although the pace of recovery may be happening gradually. We are determined to achieve growth by improving profitability through better selling prices, leveraging our technological strength, and accelerating synergies.

From Page 7, I will walk you through the revised plan for the second half and for the full year of FY '21. As stated on the slide, the currency assumption is JPY 110 against the U.S. dollar, a depreciation of JPY 5 from the initial plan, and JPY 129 against the euro, a depreciation of JPY 3.

Page 8 is the market outlook, which is the premise of the revised plan for the second half. I will start with the global auto production. The blue line shows the initial assumption at the beginning of the fiscal year in April and the red line shows actual first half results and the latest forecast for the second half. Auto production cuts due to chip shortage has become evident and Q3 is likely to underperform our initial assumption as well as last year, as was the case in Q2. We expect a gradual recovery from the fourth quarter.

Next, on the lower left is the shipment volume of smartphones. Although the shipment volume exceeded our expectation in Q2, it is expected to fall below our assumption in the second half due to the tight supply of semiconductors. The graph at upper right shows the status of customer traffic to the exhibitions in the housing business. Although visits to exhibitions in the first half were sluggish due to the prolonged restrictions with COVID-19, the weakness was somewhat offset by attracting customers online.

In the second half, we expect a gradual recovery in the number of visitors to our model house exhibitions, and the overall traffic is expected to recover to 109% of the FY '19 level. New housing starts are expected to continue the recovery trend from the first half. On the other hand, the price of domestic naphtha, as indicated at the bottom right, is expected to rise further in the second half.

Using Page 9, I will explain the revised plan for the second half. We are aiming for an operating income of JPY 54.5 billion, a significant year-on-year increase of JPY 9.7 billion to be almost in line with the initial plan. We intend to achieve this by improving selling prices, improving the product mix by expanding sales of high-performance products or promoting CR and orchestrated efforts to curb fixed costs, in order to overcome the risk of a further rise in raw material prices and prolonged shortage of semiconductors.

In HPP, we will continue to grow profits by improving selling prices and expanding sales of high-performance products. We revised our financial operating income projection by JPY 800 million for HPP to drive company-wide growth. The impact of surging raw material prices will increase for the Housing Company as well, but we will strive for a strong profit growth by increasing the number of houses sold and through cost reduction.

In UIEP, we will keep the revenue and profit growth by continuing to improve selling prices as we did in the first half, while focusing on growing the sales of prioritized products and increasing overseas sales. With that, we will aim for a record-high second half operating income of JPY 11.8 billion. In the Medical Business, we will target a new record high full year operating income of JPY 10 billion, in line with the initial plan from April on the back of continued recovery in Diagnostics demand and earnings contribution coming from the sales of new pharmaceutical ingredients.

Page 10 is the analysis of the revised plan for the second half. I'd like to draw your attention to the waterfall chart on the right, illustrating the analysis on the operating income. Although we will be affected negatively by JPY 13.9 billion year-on-year with a further rise in raw material prices, we project a significant profit growth reaching an operating income of JPY 54.5 billion, which is nearly in line with the initial plan. This will be driven by increase in the number of houses sold on the back of robust order intake in the first half, as well as improving the mix by expanding the sales of high performance products, including high-performance interlayer film.

This is the revised plan for the full year shown by divisional companies. As indicated by the red outlined boxes in the table, both sales and profits are expected to grow significantly in each segment. We have revised our operating income forecast by JPY 4 billion, the growth expected to be propelled by our growth driver, HPP Company.

In spite of the severe business environment, including the sharp rise in raw material prices, we will aim for operating income as planned at the beginning of the fiscal year in each segment and aim for an overall operating income of JPY 90 billion. In addition, we will continue to strengthen our preparatory work for sustainable growth in line with our long-term vision.

Page 12 is an overview of the revised full year plan. Full year sales are expected to increase sharply by JPY 98.9 billion. Operating income and ordinary income will increase substantially and we will revise our per net sales operating income and ordinary income from the initial plan, aiming for an operating income of JPY 90 billion, exceeding the FY '19 level, and ordinary income of JPY 94 billion, a new record high for the group. The net income is revised down due to the impairment loss recorded at SEKISUI AEROSPACE, but the decrease in profit is expected to be minimal as a result of the progress in reduction of cross shareholdings that we have continued in recent years.

The current fiscal year is the second year of the Drive 2022 medium-term plan, and it is a core year under this plan. We will further strengthen our earnings capability to achieve a revised plan for the fiscal year and pave the way for achieving the targets of the medium-term plan next fiscal year. Lastly, we plan a dividend hike of JPY 2 as planned to JPY 49 per share for the full year, which will mark the 12th consecutive year of dividend hike.

With that, I'd like to conclude my part and hand over to the divisional company presidents, who will now take you through the initiatives and strategies of each company.

[Ikusuke Shimizu, executive]

I am Ikusuke Shimizu, Company President of High Performance Plastics Company, HPP. Let me start my presentation on HPP.

Page 15 is the overview of the performance trend. In the first half of FY '21, despite the impact of higher raw material prices and the shortage of semiconductors, we were able to achieve revenue and profit growth with net sales of JPY 170.1 billion and operating income of JPY 19.3 billion. The operating income was JPY 1.3 billion higher than the previously announced guidance, which was revised as of last July.

For the second half of FY '21, we plan to achieve net sales of JPY 179.3 billion and operating income of JPY 22.7 billion, and for the full year, an operating income of JPY 42 billion by minimizing the high cost of raw materials through raising the selling prices in CR as well as expanding sales of high-performance products. On the other hand, due to the prolonged slump in demand for aircraft, we have recorded an impairment loss of JPY 49.5 billion on SEKISUI AEROSPACE. I would like to apologize to our shareholders and investors for any concerns we may have caused.

For the first half results shown on Page 16, net sales were JPY 170.1 billion, up by JPY 31 billion from the previous year. The graph on the right shows the factors behind the increase and decrease in operating income. Operating income increased by JPY 10.2 billion year-on-year. Despite the higher-than-expected raw material prices, and the growing impact of semiconductor shortage, we exceeded our previous forecast that was revised up in July, owing to improved selling prices, CR and other factors, as well as stronger positive impact from sales volume and product mix in the 3 strategic fields, mainly driven by Mobility. The operating income, including that of SEKISUI AEROSPACE recovered to a level comparable to FY '19.

Page 17 is a revised plan for the second half of FY '21. We project the net sales to grow by JPY 8.5 billion to JPY 179.3 billion from the previous year. As indicated by the analysis of operating income on the right, we aim to offset the impact of surges in raw material prices that are higher than the initial forecast through a variety of measures, including improving selling prices, CR activities and better sales volume and product mix. These efforts should enable us to secure marginal profit similar to previous year in real terms. In addition, fixed cost reduction, including lower depreciation expense for SEKISUI AEROSPACE and currency impact should underpin our plan to grow the operating income by JPY 2.9 billion in the second half.

The market remains uncertain, especially against our intention to grow the volume in the 3 strategic fields with tight chip supply and power shortage in China. Having said that, we will respond with agility to these changes and strive to acquire new customers, win new applications and grow our market share in the respective fields.

Next page covers the 3 strategic fields and progress on cost innovation. All 3 strategic fields are expected to grow in sales and profit for the full year, and electronics field is expected to renew the record high profit for 2 consecutive years. In the first half of FY '21, we were able to grow both sales and profit in all 3 strategic fields. And it's worth pointing out that we improved the performance substantially, mainly for the Mobility field. For the second half, despite the uncertainties over the market, we are projecting sales and profit growth in all 3 strategic fields.

Now let me share the current status of each field. In electronics during the first half, sales in liquid crystal field exceeded our plan thanks to robust panel plant utilization rate, driven by strong demand for TV, tablets and other devices. Furthermore, the non-LCD business was also firm. In the second half, we anticipate the impact of stagnant smartphone production stemming from chip shortage. Having said that, we will strive to expand sales in the non-LCD field, focusing on products for semiconductors, such as binder resins for MLCCs.

In the Mobility field, at upper right, the impact of the semiconductor shortage exacerbated rapidly from Q2, and September, in particular, underwent a big drop with auto production cuts. However, we were able to exceed the business plan in the first half. We assume that the semiconductor shortage will continue in the second half and such impact is reflected on our outlook to a certain extent. Yet, we will continue to strive to expand sales of high-performance films, especially wedge-shaped interlayer film for HUDs. We project the sales of wedge-shaped interlayer film for HUDs to grow by more than 10% in the second half and over 20% for the full year.

On the back of protracted weakness for aircraft demand, SEKISUI AEROSPACE will streamline the production structure so that the production capacity will match the actual demand. In addition, for products where profitability has deteriorated due to the decline in demand, we will strive to thoroughly improve profitability by measures, including raising selling prices in addition to improving productivity. At the same time, we will strengthen our structure and capability to promote product portfolio reform, aiming at the development of applications other than aircraft such as medical, not only by SEKISUI AEROSPACE, but by the entire group.

The lower left is the building and infrastructure field. Sales of chlorinated PVC are progressing as planned, underpinned by firm demand mainly in India. In the second half, we will focus on improving selling prices to mitigate the impact of higher prices of raw materials. Sales of fire-resistant materials have also been strong due to the recovery of the domestic construction market. We will continue to make price adjustments in response to the high cost of raw materials for these products as well.

Cost innovation, shown on the lower right, is our top priority. Our supply chain innovation by procurement optimization and productivity improvement, and our structural reform of drastically reviewing unprofitable businesses are progressing faster than initially planned. And we expect to overachieve the targets of the FY '22 midterm management plan ahead of the schedule. We will continue these activities to strengthen our earnings capability. And from the second half and onward, we will focus even more on our growth engines to accelerate our growth toward achieving the goals of the FY '22 midterm management plan.

This is the last page for HPP. Please turn to Page 19. Regarding the growth engine, we will strengthen the rollout of measures aimed at sustainable growth in all 3 strategic fields. We will also focus on fostering next-generation growth domains. Firstly, in the electronics field, the sales ratio of the non-LCD field was slightly lower than planned in the first half of 2021. But this was because sales in both non-LCD and LCD exceeded plan. And the excess of sales to LCD customers was greater than that to non-LCD customers. Therefore, the diversification of revenue sources is progressing smoothly.

For the second half of the fiscal year, although we expect a slowdown in the growth of heat release materials due to the shortage of semiconductors, we will continue to increase sales in the non-LCD field by expanding sales of products for semiconductors, such as binder resins for MLCCs and high adhesion easy-release tape, SELFA.

In the Mobility field, we will promote the acquisition of new car models for head-up display wedge films and strive to increase our market share. We will also work on increasing adoption amongst next-generation vehicles with wedge films for head-up displays that have sound insulation and heat insulation functions, mainly for EVs, or films with high design quality with the additional functions.

As for thermal insulation and noncombustible materials, sales in the first half of fiscal 2021 fell below plan. Although we were able to expand sales of noncombustible urethane as planned, sales of thermal insulation materials were slightly below plan due to the shortage of containers, mainly in the Middle East and ASEAN countries. In the second half of the fiscal year, we will strive to develop new applications for noncombustible urethane products and expand sales of thermal insulation materials in Japan and strengthening global sales.

As for the growth areas for the next fiscal year, we will promote the expansion of elastic adhesives in the electronic field, composite function interlayer films and higher performance interlayer films in the Mobility field, sensor-related products in the Building and Infrastructure materials field and health care material-related products in the Industrial field. This concludes my part. Thank you very much.

[Toshiyuki Kamiyoshi, executive]

I am Toshiyuki Kamiyoshi, Company President of the Housing Company. Thank you for your time today. Let me go straight into my presentation.

Please turn to Page 21, where we discuss the overview of first half results and the forecast for the second half. In the first half of the fiscal year, we were affected by the surge in component costs, but we achieved our operating income plan on the back of robust orders, especially in Q1, and by focusing on cost reduction to hedge the impact of component costs.

On the right side, orders for new housing and renovation are shown. Details will be explained later, but orders for new construction were 111% in the first half, exceeding the plan of 108%. On the other hand, orders for renovation were 115%, falling short of plan. In the second half of the fiscal year, we expect the surge of component costs to expand further, but we will strive to increase the number of houses sold and reduce costs as we did in the first half of the fiscal year, aiming for a significant increase in sales and profits.

I will continue with the analysis of the first half results on Page 22. In the first half, sales fell short of plan due to the impact of the long rainy season in August and September, in addition to the impact of COVID-19. We were also affected by the surge in component cost, but made cost reduction efforts and controlled fixed cost, enabling us to achieve the operating income plan. Net sales shown on the left side increased by JPY 19.2 billion to JPY 249.8 billion. Although falling short of the July forecast by about JPY 4 billion, sales increased in each business year-over-year.

Next, I will explain the changes in the operating income factors on the right. In the Housing business, as stated in the bubble, there was a negative impact of JPY 1.8 billion, mainly due to the wood shock and higher steel materials, but the number of houses sold increased by 170 units compared to the previous year. And with the addition of cost reduction and fixed cost control, the total housing business posted an increase of JPY 100 million in operating income.

In the renovation business, operating income increased by JPY 1.1 billion, due to sales recovery and fixed cost control. As a result, overall operating income exceeded the plan by JPY 300 million, to finish at JPY 14.8 billion.

Next, on Page 23, the revised plan for the second half of the fiscal year is shown. We expect the impact of surges of component costs in the second half to be much greater than initially expected at the beginning of the year. But we plan to increase sales of both new housing and renovations with a focus on smart houses, and at the same time, continue and strengthen cost reduction to achieve significant increases in sales and profit. On the left, net sales are expected to increase by JPY 20.6 billion year-on-year to JPY 275.2 billion. The forecast was revised upward by JPY 4.2 billion from the initial plan, and we plan to make up for the shortfall in the first half.

Next, on the right, regarding the analysis of operating income in the Housing business, the impact of components is expected to be JPY 3 billion, which is significantly worse than the first half. However, we are planning for a JPY 3.4 billion increase in operating income by increasing housing sales volume by 380 units and cost reduction measures such as leveling out and mix improvement.

In the renovation business, we have accounted for risks in sales, such as longer-than-expected delays in the recovery from COVID-19. But we plan to increase profits by JPY 1 billion by expanding efforts to conduct periodic diagnosis and by selling strategic products. As a result, operating income for the second half of the fiscal year in total is expected to be JPY 22.2 billion, and for the full year, JPY 37 billion, as initially planned.

Next, please turn to Page 24. I will now explain the outlook and measures for new housing orders. First, please refer to the line graph on the top left under visitors. In the first half of this fiscal year, we had assumed that the number of visitors to our showrooms would be 80% compared to fiscal 2019. But in fact, the recovery was delayed and turned out to be 55%, and overall visitors were sluggish at 90%. We expect gradual recovery from the third quarter onwards.

Next, regarding type of construction and number of orders in the second half of the fiscal year, we will continue to work to increase orders with subdivision housing leading the way. The total number of orders in the second half of the fiscal year, as shown on the top right, was expected to be 108% year-over-year, but it has been revised downward to 106%, considering the impact of visitor trends in the second quarter.

Next, let's look at the measures to acquire orders in the bottom half. We will further evolve the 3 growth measures mentioned here with the 50th anniversary project as the driving force. In terms of sales force and attracting customers, we will strive to attract more customers by further utilizing the web and online channels and strengthen proposals that integrate the virtual and real world, such as attracting customers to the real-size, experience-based facilities that we have been rolling out since this fiscal year.

Next, in terms of products, we will further differentiate ourselves with the new product launch this month, which will be the culmination of our 50th anniversary with a focus on smart house products and resilience. As you can see on the right, the ratio of solar and storage batteries is steadily increasing as planned. Lastly, about our land strategy. Our 50th anniversary Town and Community Development project has gotten off to a good start. We will further increase the number of lots nationwide to increase the number of projects.

Lastly, on Slide 25 is about the stock business and Town and Community Development. In the top left-hand corner, for renovation, through the measures described here, we will achieve our plan to receive orders of JPY 95 billion, which is higher than fiscal 2019. First, about the sales structure, we will further expand periodic diagnosis and actively promote the use of our museum like we do for new housing construction.

As for products, we launched sales of large capacity storage batteries for the renovation business in July, and they have been performing very well. In the second half of the fiscal year, we will work to expand sales of these products together with other key products. In the renovation business, we will also aim to improve productivity, level out sales and strengthen point of customer contact using DX.

Next, in the real estate business on the top right, the purchase and resale brand, The HEIM, launched last year, is performing very well and we will work to expand this, as well as increase orders for leasing renovation by strengthening proposals based on online negotiations. Lastly, the Town and Community Development business is progressing smoothly, and we will manage its progress and strengthen our systems and infrastructure to complete the sales of ASAKA and Higashi Matsuyama as soon as possible and start the sales of 4 new projects.

This concludes the part for the Housing Company.

[Yoshiyuki Hirai, executive]

I am Yoshiyuki Hirai, Company President of the UIEP, Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products company. Let's go straight into the presentation.

Page 27 shows the overview of fiscal year 2021. In the first half of 2021, we were greatly affected by the surge in raw material prices and domestic nonresidential demand remained sluggish. However, due to improvements in selling prices, expansion of prioritized product sales and fixed cost control, we were able to achieve JPY 3.2 billion in operating income, broadly in line with beginning of year expectations and higher than JPY 2.5 billion, which was the revised down outlook announced in July.

In the second half of the fiscal year, we will be affected by the surge in raw material prices even more than in the first half, but we will continue to improve selling prices and focus on expanding sales of prioritized products and overseas sales, aiming for JPY 11.8 billion as initially planned. In the second half, the operating income ratio will exceed 10% for the first time, which is the result of our structural reforms. And we will continue to implement various measures to achieve a 10% operating income ratio margin for the full fiscal year.

Please turn to Page 28, on which we analyze fiscal '21 first half results. Net sales were JPY 96.1 billion, almost the same as the same period last year. But excluding the impact of the business transfer, sales increased by JPY 6 billion in real terms. Also compared to the July outlook, net sales was JPY 2.4 billion higher. Domestic demand for nonresidential renovations continues to be sluggish compared to the July forecast due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19.

In addition, there was a delay in construction work due to a shortage of labor, but this was offset by firm, detached housing and public works related performance and recovery in demand in the U.S. and Asia as well as improved selling prices. As a result of these and other efforts to further reduce fixed costs, operating income exceeded the July outlook by JPY 700 million.

Please turn to Page 29, where we analyze the outlook for the second half of the year. Expectations for net sales are JPY 115.5 billion, an increase of JPY 7.1 billion. In Japan, demand for nonhousing construction is expected to recover. In overseas, sales of piping materials for plants on the back of increased semiconductor-related demand and growth in nonaircraft-related applications are expected to contribute positively. Improvement in selling prices is another factor.

As for operating income, mix under sales volume and product mix is expected to improve due to the increase in demand that I just mentioned and the expansion of prioritized product sales. The surge in raw material prices will be covered by improved selling prices and we will strive to curb fixed costs as we plan to reach JPY 11.8 billion, which is broadly in line with our original plan. This will be a record high, surpassing the second half of 2018 when Olympic demand was strong.

Turning to Page 30. This is the status of the 3 strategic fields and structural reforms. First, in the Piping and Infrastructure field on the top left, public works projects were firm in the first half, detached houses recovered and an increase was seen in CapEx for plants. In the second half of the fiscal year, there are concerns about construction delays, but we plan to return to the same level as in fiscal 2019, accounting for the realization of orders that have already been received in which the customer adopted prioritized products.

In the Building and Living Environmental field at the bottom, the recovery of the housing and renovation market will continue to contribute to the second half of the year as it did in the first half. Early in the second half of the fiscal year, we also launched an automatic cleaning bathtub for detached houses, which has been well received for nursing care use. We hope to expand this product together with equipment for nursing care facilities, which is performing well.

In the Advanced Materials field on the top right, the impact of the business transfer remained until the first half of the fiscal year. In the North America Sheet business, the aviation market has not yet fully recovered, but development themes for new applications, such as medical robotics and 5G communication equipment are proving to be successful and contributing to sales growth.

In the area of synthetic wood FFU, in addition to budget cuts by railroad companies, we have been affected by design and transportation delays caused by COVID-19 overseas. But increase are brisk, especially in Europe, which is sensitive to environmental issues and construction of a plant in the Netherlands is proceeding smoothly.

The graph on the bottom right shows the status of our cost reduction activities through structural reforms and productivity innovation, and we are making progress ahead of our midterm plan. Even after fiscal 2022, we will strive for further productivity improvement and plan to reorganize production, invest into production automation, use DX to increase efficiency of operations and transform sales marketing.

Please turn to Page 31, the last page of my part, which shows the growth strategy. Our prioritized products are positioned as products that provide high-level solutions through growing social issues and are also products to enhance sustainability. The pictures on the top right are some examples. We have been making efforts to cultivate new customers through webinars, et cetera, to raise awareness of our products that can be used as measures against disaster prevention, disaster mitigation and aging infrastructure and inquiries have been strong.

We will try to expand our business further by communicating the CO2 reduction impact of our products compared to competing products. In addition, although not mentioned here, the Chiba Solution Center, which started operation in July, is a facility where we can conduct evaluations close to the actual environment to meet customer needs, and we are confident that it will be a great asset in boosting sales of our prioritized products. This facility can be connected online and is available for customer visits.

Going to the bottom of the slide, in the second half of 2021, we plan to achieve JPY 17.9 billion in overseas sales, up from JPY 16 billion in the second half of 2019. Even though the aviation field is still sluggish, we will steadily implement the strategies for each of the businesses shown on the bottom right. The key to each of these strategies is the development of new customers and new applications and the launch of new products, and we are beginning to see results.

In addition to these measures to increase sales, we will further focus on measures to improve profitability, such as cost improvement as well as the fundamentals of safety, quality and compliance to solidify the management foundation of our overseas business.

This concludes my part. Thank you.

[Futoshi Kamiwaki, executive]

I will now explain the Medical Business. I am Futoshi Kamiwaki, Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer and Head of the Business Strategy Department.

Please turn to Page 33. This is an overview of the first half results and the outlook for the second half. In the first half, domestic and overseas demand for Diagnostics showed a steady recovery. Against this backdrop, we achieved a significant increase in both sales and profit and an operating income of JPY 4.9 billion, a record high for the first half. In the second half of the fiscal year, we expect that demand for Diagnostics will continue to recover steadily.

In addition to this, new large pharmaceutical ingredients will start to contribute to our profits in the second half. So we are aiming to achieve a record high operating income of JPY 10 billion for the fiscal year as forecasted in April.

Please turn to Page 34. This is the performance analysis for the first half. Net sales increased by JPY 7.8 billion to JPY 39.7 billion. As for the analysis of operating income, we achieved an increase of JPY 2.4 billion in the first half year-over-year, JPY 500 million higher than the forecast in July. As shown in the table, domestic Diagnostics increased by JPY 1.7 billion and overseas Diagnostics increased by JPY 1.4 billion, so the strong demand for Diagnostics in Japan and overseas was a major factor in the increase in profit.

Please turn to Page 35, which is about the revised plan for the second half. Sales are expected to increase by JPY 2.7 billion to JPY 43.1 billion. Operating income for the second half is expected to increase by JPY 600 million from the previous year. As you can see here, domestic Diagnostics will continue to be strong and increase by JPY 300 million, while overseas Diagnostics, especially COVID-19 test kits in Europe and the United States are expected to see a certain level of demand, but price competition has become very strong. So we expect a slight decrease from the previous year.

But we are expecting to come in broadly in line with previous year numbers by making up for the decline with blood coagulation reagent sales in China. On the other hand, in the Pharmaceutical Science and Other business, we expect an increase of JPY 600 million in total, including an increase of JPY 1.2 billion due to the start of shipments of large-scale new pharmaceutical ingredients from the second half.

Please turn to Page 36, which gives an overview by business. First, for Diagnostics in Japan, demand is expected to continue to recover steadily and we will continue to expand, especially in the biochemistry and immunology domains, which are our strengths. As for overseas Diagnostics on the right, in the first half of the fiscal year, market conditions recovered and demand for Diagnostics for COVID-19 in Europe and the United States remained strong.

In addition, the expansion of reagents for blood coagulation in China made a significant contribution. In the second half of the fiscal year, we expect a certain level of demand for COVID-19 testing. We will also accelerate the expansion of sales of blood coagulation reagents in China.

In the Pharmaceutical Sciences business at the bottom left, orders for drug discovery recovered in the first half of fiscal year and remained strong. In the second half of the fiscal year, new pharmaceutical ingredients from major pharmaceutical manufacturers are contributing to earnings, and we expect a large increase in sales to JPY 10.1 billion.

As for new products on the bottom right, we are focusing on 2. Diagnostic kits for COVID-19, especially for Europe and the United States, where price competition has become very fierce. We would like to accelerate the development of our own diagnostic kits that can be differentiated. Coagulation is also a strong field for us and we have completed the development of a new coagulation Diagnostics device and plan to launch it in the third quarter. By increasing the market share of this Diagnostics equipment, we plan to prepare for the expansion of sales of reagents.

That's all for Medical. Thank you for listening.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]