Total shareholders’ equity advanced ¥14,289 million, to ¥173,924 million, and the shareholders’ equity ratio increased 1.4 percentage points, to 38.4%. Due to the increase in income, net cash provided by operating activities during fiscal 2001 amounted to ¥48,548 million. On the other hand, net cash used in investing activities totaled ¥23,203 million, the bulk of which was due to the Company’s purchases of property, plant and equipment of ¥20,292 million. Net cash used in financing activities totaled ¥23,679 million, primarily due to a decrease in short-term borrowings. As a result, cash and cash equivalents (liquidity in hand), end of year, amounted to ¥35,482 million, approximately the same level as at the previous fiscal year-end. This figure is equivalent to approximately 0.8 times the Company’s average monthly net sales of ¥44,326 million. Liquidity in hand, including a commitment line with banks of approximately ¥25,000 million, amounted to ¥60,482 million, or 1.4 times the Company’s average monthly net sales. Daikin has positioned the maximization of corporate value (stock value) among its top- priority managerial tasks. As such, the Company is actively working to develop new businesses and strengthen its operational framework by adopting new systems and managerial indicators, including a virtual internal companies system, ROA, free cash flow (FCF), and Daikin’s Value Added (DVA). At the same time, focusing on dividends as a means of returning value to our shareholders, we are committed to raising the ratio of cash dividends to shareholders’ equity (on a non-consolidated basis) to more than 2.0%. During fiscal 2001, Daikin achieved substantial increases in both operating income and net income. Starting in fiscal 2002, the Company will strive to achieve further improvements to its operational framework with the ultimate objective of fulfilling the goals of the Fusion 05 strategic management plan. At the same time, we are planning aggressive strategic investment in the acceleration of our global business development comprising such business expansion measures as IT outfitting and the augmentation of our competitive strength. Taking these factors into account, the Company declared cash dividends applicable to the fiscal year of ¥12.00 per share, an increase of ¥2.0 com- pared with the previous year. The ratio of cash dividends to shareholders’ equity (on a non-consolidated basis) was 2.0%. 23 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE TOPICS REVIEW OF OPERATIONS FINANCIAL SECTION CORPORATE DATA Return on Assets (%) Cash Flows Return on Equity (%) Dividends 1.6 1.2 1.4 2.4 4.4 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 4.7 3.8 4.2 6.5 11.5 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01