Gunze <3002>, which has a history rooted in silk manufacturing, has a diverse revenue base with its Apparel business handling innerwear, legwear, and textile materials, as well as expanding into Functional Solutions, Medical, and Life Create businesses. In the Functional Solutions business, the company deals with plastic films used in packaging for foods and engineering plastics used in office automation equipment such as printers. In the Medical business, the company manufactures and sells Medical-related equipment, and has a high market share for biocompatible tissue reinforcement materials and bone fixation materials. The Life Create business focuses on redevelopment and management of the company's former factory sites, including operations of commercial facilities and sports gyms, and green initiatives. The company is characterized by its commitment to environmentally conscious management, actively investing in the Circular Factory, a model for resource circulation.

For the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2025, consolidated cumulative results show revenue of 67,329 million yen, an increase of 3.3% year-on-year, and operating profit of 3,566 million yen, an increase of 10.4% year-on-year. The Functional Solutions business, which is showing a recovery trend in material-related areas, and the Medical business, which has expanded with new products and growth in sales to China, both saw revenue increases of 5.7% and 17.8%, respectively, which contributed to the profit growth. Additionally, in the Life Create business, structural reforms such as reviewing non-profitable sports clubs contributed to operating profit growth that outpaced the top line growth. By segment, operating profit in the Medical business surged 40.9% to 1,279 million yen. The strong sales in the company-manufactured high-margin bone fixation materials and adhesion prevention materials, along with strong sales to China, contributed to this dramatic increase in profit.

The consolidated financial estimates for the fiscal year ending March 2025 forecast revenue of 140,000 million yen, an increase of 5.4% compared to the previous year, and operating profit of 9,000 million yen, an increase of 32.8%. The company plans to continue expanding its business performance driven by the Functional Solutions and Medical businesses, particularly forecasting steady trends in Engineering Plastics supported by market recovery for office automation, along with a robust performance expected for semiconductors, as well as the strong performance of the Medical segment leading up to the fiscal year-end. Furthermore, profits in the Life Create business are expected to increase due to structural reforms aimed at improving profitability, which is also likely to contribute to the overall profit uplift. Regarding Dividends, a payment of 157.0 yen per share is anticipated, an increase of 4.0 yen compared to the previous year (with a dividend yield of about 3%). The company has set a policy of returning 100% of profits (until ROE exceeds capital costs), targeting a DOE of over 2.2%, and is expected to continue promoting shareholder returns in the future.

The medium to long-term management policy is set under 'VISION 2030 stage1.' This mid-term management plan positions itself as a stage of transformation and challenge to achieve its vision for 2030, outlining a basic strategy of creating new value, evolving corporate structure, prioritizing capital costs, and environmentally conscious management based on changes in the external environment. Through the steady execution of this basic strategy, the company aims to achieve an ROE of over 6.3% in the fiscal year ending March 2025. The company has already been conducting business activities with an awareness of capital costs. Moving forward, it plans to continually generate profits that exceed the expected returns on invested capital, thereby enhancing corporate value.