Announcement of the Settlement of Accounts for the Second Quarter of the Year Ending March 2012

(Note) Figures shown have been rounded down to the nearest million yen

Our settlement of accounts for the second quarter of the year ending March 2012 was announced on the afternoon of Friday, November 4 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchange Press Clubs. An outline of the accounts is presented below.

Consolidated Results for the Second Quarter of the Year Ending March 2012 (April 1, 2011 to September 30, 2011)

Overview of the first half for FY ending March 2012

The Japanese economy during the second quarter period, although showing some signs of recovery from the March 11 earthquake, is still in a severe condition with power shortages and radioactive material contamination in the aftermath of the nuclear plant accident expected to prolong for a long period. With trends of deflation and the rising yen showing signs of prolongation together with stagnating employment conditions and the recent financial crisis in Europe and U.S., the future projection of economic trend remains to be opaque.

The food industry in which our group is placed continued to face adverse business conditions challenged with thrifty consumer spending and lower pricing trends caused by the instability of the economy, and with high key standards of raw material and fuel prices.

Amid such environment, we carried out measures from our new middle term business plan “Global & Quality 2013”, engaging in product development fitting the needs of customers, delivering high-functionality ingredients and reducing production costs upon positioning “promotion of global management”, “promotion of technological management” and “promotion of sustainable management” as our fundamental policies.

As a result, for the first half of the year ending March 2012, we achieved the consolidated net sales of 116,520 million yen (8.2% increase y-o-y), operating income of 6,013 million yen (27.4% decrease y-o-y), ordinary income of 5,897 million yen (27.1% decrease y-o-y) and net income of 3,956 million yen (18.5% decrease y-o-y).

Overviews by division are as follows:

<Oils and Fats Processing Division>
Domestically, rising prices of key raw material lead to decreased profitability of hard butters for chocolate, but steady sales of coconut oil, palm oil and blended oil lead to improved sales and profit of the division.

In our overseas subsidiaries, hard butters for chocolate shrank in sales and profits following the drop in its sales price impacted by the decreased market price of cocoa butter. Palm oil recorded improved sales compared to the previous year due to the rise in raw material prices but worsening profitability lead to decrease in profits.

Through these results, this division achieved 50,184 million yen (18.8% increase y-o-y) in sales and an operating income of 2,076 million yen (39.4% decrease y-o-y).

<Confectionery and Baking Ingredients Division>
Domestically, chocolates for industrial use experienced decrease in sales and profits following the sales drop of sweet chocolates and colored chocolates for bread, sweets in retail distribution, and frozen desserts. Margarines and shortenings posted increased sales for products for breads, but fell in profits following higher raw material prices. Imported confectionery and baking ingredients achieved gains in sales and profits after improving sales of milk powder formula and butter preparation products.

Our subsidiary overseas posted increase in sales year-on-year following good sales of chocolates for industrial use, margarines, and shortenings in Southeast Asian, but rising raw material prices hampered profitability to mark a fall in profit.

Through these results, this division achieved a sales volume of 48,039 million yen (3.9% increase y-o-y) and an operating income of 2,831 million yen (29.2% decrease y-o-y).

<Soy Protein Division>
Domestically, soy protein ingredients posted decrease in sales for fishery and health foods following the termination of joint venture agreement with Solae, LLC in the US, but frozen foods, prepared foods and processed foods posted steady sales to leave the division overall with decrease in sales but gains in profit. Food function-enhancing ingredients shrank in sales following the drop in sales price but increased in profit from improved sales volume in processed foods and fermentation and culture medium. Soy protein products grew in sales after products for instant noodles and catering foods market increased but decreased year-on-year in profit. Soy milk improved sales year-on-year to see positive earnings.

Through these results, this division achieved sales of 18,296 million yen (4.5% decrease y-o-y) and an operating income of 1,105 million yen (28.9% increase y-o-y).

Predictions for Consolidated Results for the Year Ending March 2012 (April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012)

*Qualitative information regarding forecast consolidated figures
Please refer to “Notice Regarding Revisions in Forecast of Consolidated Figures” announced today, November 4, 2011 for matters concerning full-year forecasts.

*Explanation and other notes regarding appropriate utilization of the predictions
The forecasts above have been made based on assumptions deemed rational together with information available at the time of this announcement, and the actual results may differ from these forecasts due to various factors.

End of report