Seven Questions for President Masahiro Sugino Dividend Policy and Corporate Value Q7: Please tell us about your dividend policy and views on corporate value. A7: We plan to maintain our annual dividend of ¥40 per share. To increase our corporate value, we will simultaneously pursue profit growth while working to protect the environment. here has been no change to our policy of a dividend payout ratio of at least 30% on a con- solidated basis. We kept our dividend per share for the term under review at ¥40, the same  as the previous fiscal year, in light of the fact that the net loss was due mainly to write-downs. By  carrying out the strategies I discussed above, we plan to become an even stronger company and  generate solid profits. As this happens, we would like to raise our dividend in stages. For the time  being, we will keep the treasury stock that we currently hold in preparation for stock swaps for  future M&A deals and the exercise of stock options already granted. T Pursuing profits is of course an important part of increasing our corporate value, but we also feel  we have a duty to help create a better environment as one of Japan’s largest home and living   environment-related companies. As part of this, we feel we must enhance our efforts to make the  entire housing lifecycle more eco-friendly. Such efforts include reducing CO$_{2}$ emissions during pro- duction, developing energy-saving products, and recycling waste material. In December 2009, we  established Lixil Energy Corporation to enter the solar energy generation systems business. We are  also actively developing products that are effective in reducing energy consumption, such as prod- ucts that provide insulation and conserve water. Through these kinds of initiatives, the JS Group will work as one to achieve its medium-term  management vision, which ends in March 2011, while at the same time fulfilling our corporate social  responsibility. By doing so, we are determined to increase both our corporate value and customer  value. I hope that shareholders will support us in these endeavors. 40 40 40 40 40 –20 60 40 20 0 –1,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 2009 2006 2007 2008 2010 65.4 –209.2 52.8 33.4 2,352.9 Dividends per Share/  Dividend Payout Ratio  ■■  Dividends per Share ■  Dividend Payout Ratio (yen)  (%) JS Group Corporation Annual Report 2010 20