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When was the company established? | |
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We began in 1968 as a sales agency affiliated with Toa Electric Co., Ltd. (now TOA Corporation) for its medical electronics devices and equipment.
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Where are you headquartered? | |
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Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Aside from the Corporate Headquarter, we also have R&D and production bases in the greater Kobe area, from which we manage our global operations.
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When were you listed on the stock market? | |
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We listed our stock on the second section of the Osaka Securities Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1995 and 1996, respectively. We were then promoted to the first sections of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchange in 2000.
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What is your securities code? | |
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Number 6869. | | |
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What does the corporate name (Sysmex) mean? | |
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It is derived from "Systematical + Medics + infinite possibilities (X)."
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What are your corporate values? | |
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We sincerely aspire "to continually develop advanced technologies and create value with the aim of serving our customers and society at large; and to play a key role in contributing to the health and vitality of people the world over." Guided by these corporate values, we will remain committed to shaping the future of a healthy and prosperous society.
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What is the mainstay business of Sysmex? | |
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The hematology (blood cell counts) business is our current mainstay, accounting for approximately 60% of our net sales. We are the market share leader in this field in Japan, and first in share worldwide, having earned an excellent reputation among customers.
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What are your basic management strategies? | |
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They are: “Leading Hematology,” “Leading in Emerging Markets,” and “Innovating Life Science.” | | |
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Could you describe "Leading Hematology" in greater detail? | |
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Sysmex has become a global leader in the field of hematology by providing products with high levels of quality and usability, as well as advanced after-sales support, in more than 170 countries throughout the world. Going forward, we plan to further leverage our collective strengths to seize the position of undisputed global leader.
As the industry frontrunner, by applying advanced technologies and through ongoing R&D initiatives, we aim to create new value in the area of blood disorder diagnosis. At the same time, we will continue to grow through our leadership role in next-generation hematology. | | |
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Could you discuss what "Leading in Emerging Markets" means? | |
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As the sole global player in the IVD field that is based in Asia, Sysmex aims to be the leading company in Asia in this field.
Leveraging the advantages we have cultivated in Asia, we aim to become a comprehensive IVD supplier in emerging markets-which are expected to grow rapidly-by launching products tailored to market needs and enhancing our sales and support networks.
By reinforcing our advantages in Asia, we aim to take a leading position in this region's IVD market. We will also lead the development of diagnostics markets within these countries.
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Could you tell us what "Innovating Life Science" is? | |
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In the Life Science, we aim to create unique testing techniques employing new technologies in the area of Theranostics, particularly for cancer.
By combining our own technologies with those from others, we engage in initiatives to create new value in the Life Science, such as integrating personalized medicine with treatment and diagnosis and we aim to secure a global position.
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What are your main consolidated subsidiaries? | |
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We have about fifty subsidiaries globally. We have established our own marketing services networks in all of the emerging BRICs, ASEAN and EMEA*. For details, please visit "Subsidiaries, Associated Foundation".
*EMEA: Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia | | |
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When do you announce your financial results? | |
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Where can the latest financial data be found? | |
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The latest IR materials in the form of PDF files may be downloaded from "IR Library". A 30-minute presentation of the most recent conference on results is also available.
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We would like to know about Sysmex's past performance records. | |
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Please visit "Financial Highlights", which shows our three-year financial results (consolidated, non-consolidated) with graphs. | | |
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Where can investment indices, such as ROE, equity ratio, and shareholders' equity per share be found? | |
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Please visit "Financial Highlights", which shows three-year financial results (consolidated, non-consolidated) with graphs. Please visit here for Financial Data.
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What are your management risks? | |
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Our management risks include: 1.influence of forex fluctuations to overseas sales, 2.impact of medical system reforms, 3.product quality, 4.stability of product supply, and 5.measures for risks in the use of information systems. | | |
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How great is the impact caused by forex fluctuations? | |
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The Sysmex Group is engaged primarily in the development, manufacture, and sales of diagnostic instruments and reagents. We market our products outside of Japan through our overseas affiliates and distributors, and our overseas sales ratio is on the rise each year: 68.0% for FY2008, 68.3% for FY2009, and 69.1% for FY2010. Because of this increase, we hedge exchange risks through forward markets, but the possibility remains that fluctuations in the foreign exchange market could affect the business results and financial position of the Sysmex Group.
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How is the ongoing medical system reform in Japan affecting the company? | |
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In Japan, there are many significant changes underway in the environment surrounding healthcare services, such as the rapidly aging population coupled with a low birthrate, advances in medical technology, and growing demands for quality of care for patients. Against this background, the authorities continue to promote a reform of the medical service system for the purposes of rationalizing healthcare costs and more efficiently providing high-quality healthcare services.
Our business results and financial position could also be influenced by this reform. The future will presumably bring continued measures for rationalization of healthcare costs and demands for higher efficiency in hospital management, improved healthcare services, and new testing demands.
In this climate, while bolstering our investments in definitive diagnosis for cancer and other areas in the life science field, we are striving to provide total solutions which encompass diagnostic instruments and reagents, information technology, and after-sales support, and also to retain the ability for finely-tuned accommodation of diversifying demands.
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Could you tell us specifically what risks there are concerning quality of products, and how you counter them? | |
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Due to the high requirements for reliability of diagnostic instruments and reagents, which the Sysmex Group supplies, we have established an infallible quality management structure to assure the quality of our products. Should a quality issue arise in our products, however, such could have an impact on our business performance.
To prevent this from happening, we have developed and implemented a system for fulfilling quality requirements of related laws in each of the countries in which we operate and international standards, such as the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law and ISO13485.
In addition, we monitor quality information from markets both at home and abroad and from inside the company on a daily basis so that we can accumulate technical information for improved design quality and make thorough quality checks before full-scale production and market introduction begin.
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Could you tell us specifically what risks there are concerning stable supply of products, and how you counter them? | |
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The Sysmex Group markets its diagnostic instruments and reagents in over 170 countries and regions throughout the world. To ensure a stable supply of such products to the market, we have developed in-house infrastructures.The possibility exists that we might not be able to supply products, owing to difficulities in procuring materials as suppliers suspend business or materials supply, or our manufacturing bases suffer a large-scale natural disaster or a serious incident such as a fire.
For this reason, we are making constant efforts to avoid risk by multiple-purchase of materials, and to implement disaster recovery plans for our manufacturing bases. | | |
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Could you tell us specifically what risks there are concerning the use of information system, and how you counter them? | |
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The Sysmex Group has introduced various information systems for communications, support of our core business, and approval procedures, such as our collective decision-making system, and a significant portion of our business information is transmitted through networks.
In order to minimize the possible impact that a disturbance in information systems and networks or computer viruses or unauthorized access to our systems could have on our networks, we are tightening internal controls by way of stricter user management and fingerprint verification units to limit access, as well as back-ups of our networks, thorough daily operational management, and security measures including the installation of virus gateways. | | |
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