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During FY23, global economic growth slowed due to persisting economic instabilities caused by interest rate hikes in global economies, rising uncertainty regarding the global situation and continuing inflation etc. The substantial depreciation of the yen also impacted the economy. With respect to our major markets, in addition to the weakening demand in the smartphone market, demand adjustment has strengthened mainly for commodity products in the semiconductor-related markets, which demand has previously been strong.
At Kyocera, in the above-mentioned business environment, our sales were affected by the weakening demand in the smartphone market. However, sales revenue for FY23 increased by 10.1%, as compared with the year ended March 31, 2022 ("FY22"), achieving our long-stated target of 2 trillion yen in sales revenue. This was due to increased sales by the Document Solutions Unit and the Industrial Tools Unit, and also to the impact of the weaker yen, in addition to a contribution from the expansion of our component production for cutting-edge semiconductors, demand for which has been strong.
However, despite the impacts of this sales revenue increase and the weaker yen, profit decreased as compared with FY22, due to factors such as increases in costs for raw materials, energy and logistics, as well as a sharp decrease in sales revenue in the Communications Unit. In addition, three one-time costs totaling approximately 19 billion yen were recorded during FY23, namely, a litigation cost, an additional cost in connection with pension obligations and costs associated with structural reforms. As a result, operating profit decreased by 13.7%, profit before income taxes decreased by 11.4%, and profit attributable to owners of the parent decreased by 13.8%, as compared with FY22.
[Released on May 15, 2023]
During FY24, the unstable global situation and economic environment is expected to continue. With respect to our major markets, namely the semiconductor-related, automotive-related and smartphone markets, demand adjustments are expected to continue for the time being. However, we expect the environment to gradually improve from the latter half of the six months ending September 30, 2023.
Kyocera will continue to increase production capacity and expand production mainly for components for semiconductor-related markets to further expand the Core Components Business and the Electronic Components Business. Also, in the Solutions Business, in addition to aggressive development of new products and services, mainly in the Document Solutions Unit, we will restructure low growth and/or low profitability businesses, aiming to improve profitability.
