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 1 |
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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| 2 |
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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| 3 |
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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| 4 |
What is your securities code? |
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Number 6869. |
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| 5 |
What does the corporate name (Sysmex) mean? |
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It is derived from "Systematical + Medics + infinite possibilities (X)."
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| 6 |
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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| 7 |
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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| 8 |
What are your basic management strategies? |
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They are: "Global Niche No. 1," "Focus on Asia," and "Focus on Life Science." |
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| 9 |
Could you describe "Global Niche No. 1" in greater detail? |
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Global Niche No. 1 is a strategy for bringing about strengths with which we can become No. 1 in niche products or business sectors in the global market. At present our biggest strength is the Sysmex brand in the hematology(blood cell counts) and coagulation fields, which we hope will be maximized. Our overwhelming presence in the hematology field allows us to form equal alliances with such major global players as Roche and Dade Behring.
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| 10 |
Could you discuss what "Focus on Asia" means? |
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Focus on Asia is a strategy aimed towards being the No. 1 comprehensive supplier in the diagnostics field of the Asian market in which we are based, and which promises much future growth.
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| 11 |
Could you tell us what "Focus on Life Science" is? |
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Focus on Life Science is a strategy for establishing new testing in prevention and definitive diagnosis by applying life science technologies, with a view towards sustaining long-term growth.
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| 12 |
What are your main consolidated subsidiaries? |
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We have about forty five subsidiaries globally. We have established our own marketing services networks in all of the emerging economies known as BRICs. For details, please visit "Subsidiaries, Associated Foundation".
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| 13 |
When do you announce your financial results? |
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| 14 |
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 "Investor Relations". A 30-minute spoken presentation of the most recent conference on results are also available.
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| 15 |
We would like to know about Sysmex's past performance records. |
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Please visit "Financial Highlights", which shows three-year financial results (consolidated, non-consolidated) with graphs.
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| 16 |
Where can investment indices, such as ROE, equity ratio, and shareholders' equity per share be found? |
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| 17 |
What are your management risks? |
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Our management risks include: 1.overseas sales (forex fluctuations), 2. impact of the medical system reform, 3. quality of products, 4.stable supply of products, and 5.measures for risks in the use of information systems.
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| 18 |
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 every year: 67.5% for FY2007, 68.0% for FY2008, and 68.3% for FY2009. 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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| 19 |
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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| 20 |
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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| 21 |
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 160 countries and regions throughout the world. To ensure a stable supply of such products to the market, we have developed in-house infrastructures.
We procure materials for these products from approximately 300 Japanese suppliers and 50 overseas suppliers. The possibility exists that it may become difficult for us to ensure a stable supply of products, owing to difficulties in procuring materials as suppliers suspend business or materials supply, among other factors, and/or tighter environmental regulations concerning our products.
For this reason, we are making constant efforts to strengthen communications with our suppliers, share information with suppliers and affiliated companies, and establish a global supply structure in the reagent business. With regard to environmental regulations, we have created a full-time project to deal with different sets of requirements of each regulation and take necessary action as dictated by priority.
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| 22 |
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 information communications, support of our core business, and approval procedures, such as the collective decision-making system, and a significant portion of the business information is transmitted through networks. In order to minimize the possible impact that a disturbance of information systems and network circuits or computer viruses and unauthorized access to our information systems could have on our networks, we are tightening internal control by way of stricter user management and fingerprint verification units for limited access, as well as back-up of our networks, thorough daily operational management, and security measures including the installation of virus gateways.
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