Financial Results and Investor Meeting
CONSOLIDATED AND NON-CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR SIX MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
Overview of Interim Results and Outlook
Management Policies
1. Basic Policy
The JR East Group provides an array of quality and forward-looking services centered on railway operations, and based on sound management practices, to fulfill its obligations to shareholders. To this end, all employees of the group are devoted to providing safe and reliable transportation and services that are convenient and of the highest quality. At the same time, employees will continue to work toward more progress in improving services and technology. By developing along with its customers and creating new life-style services that earn the trust of customers, the JR East Group will help enhance customers' lives, contribute to the cultural advancement of localities and work to preserve the global environment.
2. Establishing the Structure of Management Administration
To facilitate adequate and fast decision-making by the board of directors based on sufficient discussions, JR East is working on upgrading its corporate governance functions. This includes incorporating the opinions of directors from outside JR East and corporate auditors. Furthermore, JR East is strengthening ties between the parent company corporate auditors and the auditors at each JR East Group company. The objective is to ensure the soundness of the management of each group company. The importance now placed on consolidated results means that a company is evaluated based on the performance of its entire group.
Regarding the disclosure of information, JR East conducts a comprehensive range of IR activities including information meetings held in Japan and overseas.
3. Strategies and Management Issues
Since its inception, JR East has relentlessly worked to establish an independent, self-reliant management base on its own in accordance with the spirit of the JNR (Japanese National Railways) restructuring. As JR East stands on the threshold of a new century, it faces dramatic changes in the operating environment, including the advent of intense competition accompanying the onward march of globalization as well as rapid advances in technological innovation. JR East will respond swiftly and appropriately to these changes. Meanwhile, JR East will continue to concentrate on its development as a corporate group that is worthy of the trust of its customers.
In railway operations, JR East will continue to strive for increased revenues as well as improvements in safety and service. In life-style businesses, JR East will cooperate with group companies in the active development of businesses that can successfully compete with others. On the other hand, JR East will also continuously implement steps to make operations more efficient and reduce total long-term debt to bolster its financial position.
Early Attainment of Full Private-Sector Ownership
Attaining full private-sector ownership, the final objective of the JNR restructuring, is the most important and pressing issue for JR East. Achieving this goal is essential for JR East to make the speedy management decisions needed to respond quickly to the dramatic and rapid changes now taking place in the operating environment. JR East will continue to provide safe and reliable transportation and higher quality services and improve its performance. JR East will thus continue to concentrate all its resources on attaining full private-sector ownership.
Strengthening Group Management Systems
Now that consolidated results are the primary means of evaluating companies, increasing the value of the entire JR East Group is of the utmost importance. In response, JR East will formulate a common vision and goals for the group. To achieve these aims, JR East will concentrate all its efforts on improving the quality of group-wide management. This will require the continuous improvements in management practices driven by a speedy and flexible decision-making process. Resources will be channeled to business fields where the JR East Group has the greatest competitive edge. Additionally, management structures and business operation processes will be reviewed to conduct business operations more efficiently. All group members will take actions of their own to improve operating results and cooperate among themselves in a broad range of areas to enhance the group's overall strength and cohesiveness.
Establishing a Sound Management Base
JR East intends to enhance transparency by strengthening its disclosure activities and, through the measures discussed above, plans to establish a sound management base capable of maintaining a stable dividend and fulfilling its obligations to shareholders.
