Shukuo Ishikawa

The Group's mission is to provide "Dreams, Fun and Inspiration," and our vision is to be "the Leading Innovator in Global Entertainment." On that basis, we provide products and services in the Toys and Hobby business, Content business, and Amusement Facility business.

In April 2012, we launched the new Mid-term Plan, which includes our new mid-term vision - Empower, Gain Momentum, Accelerate Evolution. This vision incorporates our commitment to enhancing our operations and improving our results, as well as our strong determination to strive to be No. 1, a determination that is shared by all of our employees. Under this plan, we will work to maximize IP value through the implementation of Group-wide strategies that use IP as an axis call. To that end, we will leverage our wide range of business fields and select the optimal timing, categories, and regions for the development of our IP, including characters. The plan also includes our Focus Strategies, which comprise three Business Area Strategies and two Functional Strategies.

Under the Business Area Strategies, we classify the Group's businesses and regions into three categories. Operations in Japan, which already have stable market shares and revenues, are positioned as Basic Business Areas. In these areas we will aim for an overwhelming No. 1 share in each category. The U.S. and Europe are positioned as Profit Recovering Areas, where we will aim to achieve a recovery in profits and build a stable foundation. Markets in Asia are positioned as New Growth Areas, and in these markets we will conduct aggressive business development targeting growth as a pillar of new businesses and regions. We also have two Functional Strategies, which extend across business categories. The Human Resources Strategy targets the cultivation of human resources who can be active in the global marketplace, and the Group-wide Network Strategy aims to build a new business model that draws on the strengths of the BANDAI NAMCO Group.

Under our IP-axis strategy, we strive to respond rapidly to changes in the operating environment, and this strategic approach proved to be effective in FY2013.3, the first year of the Mid-term Plan. As a result, our performance exceeded the level that we initially forecast when we formulated the plan. However, our other strategies are still in the initial phases of implementation, and we face a range of challenges and issues that we need to resolve.

From FY2014.3, which will be the second year of the plan, we will aim to achieve overwhelming No. 1 positions in Japan in all categories, profit recovery in the U.S. and Europe, and growth in Asia. To those ends, we will steadily advance each of our strategies.

Moving forward, the operating environment is expected to undergo increasingly dramatic change. However, the BANDAI NAMCO Group has pride and a sense of responsibility about its mission of providing Dreams, Fun and Inspiration, and accordingly we will continue to provide markets around the world with products and services that leverage the strengths of the BANDAI NAMCO Group. In the future, we will always do our utmost as we strive to create new value through entertainment. In this way, the BANDAI NAMCO Group will continue working to realize its mid-term vision - Empower, Gain Momentum, Accelerate Evolution.

April 2013
Shukuo Ishikawa
President and CEO, Representative Director
NAMCO BANDAI Holdings, Inc.