Business Results and Forecasts Q1: How do you view the JS Group’s business performance for the year ended March 31, 2010? Also,  what is your outlook for the year ending March 31, 2011, which is the final year of the medium-term  management vision? A1: During the year ended March 31, 2010, we laid the foundation for future growth. In the year ending  March 31, 2011, we will do our best to achieve operating income of ¥50.0 billion. JS Group Corporation Annual Report 2010 14 The Year Ending March 31, 2011 Targets We acquired the Asia-Pacific  division of American Standard,  the global plumbing fixtures  brand; leading Japanese  kitchen system manufacturer  Sun Wave Corporation; and  sash competitor Shin Nikkei   Company, Ltd. Three M&As I will go into more detail about this later, but a key theme in the context of efforts to improve  Group operations in the year ended March 31, 2010 was “Structural Reforms and Synergy Creation.”  In order to create a group that can generate profits even without growth in Japan’s housing market,  we cut costs, reduced SG&A expenses and merged overlapping operations. The thr ee M&As  in the  year ended March 31, 2010 were conducted to achieve greater results in this context. n the year ended March 31, 2010, we endured an extremely difficult business environment in  which new housing starts dropped 25.4% year on year from 1.04 million to 0.78 million.  I Reflecting this environment, our sales declined 6.1% from the previous fiscal year to ¥982.6 billion.  However, thanks to structural reforms we achieved a 1.5% increase in operating income to ¥26.0  billion. I believe this testifies to the fact that the steps we took in the year ended March 31, 2010  have laid the path for future growth. We pushed through reforms in the year ended March 31, 2010, looking at what we could do to  make living spaces and living environments better with the Group’s own housing-related products  and services. In the year ending March 31, 2011, we will continue to manage the company in a way  that balances a defensive approach involving further restructuring with an aggressive one to drive  growth. The Japanese government is implementing strategies to improve living spaces, such as  introducing the eco-point system for housing. Capitalizing on this, we aim to become a corporate  group that can offer a one-stop service for house building materials. Our profit target for the year  ending March 31, 2011 is operating income of ¥50.0 billion. Assumed new housing starts: 0.8 million ■ Net sales:  ¥1,200.0 billion  (Up 22.1% YoY) ■  Operating income:  ¥50.0 billion  (Up ¥24.0 billion YoY) ■  ROE:  Around 5%  (Up 6.0 points YoY)