2010 New Year Greeting from the President,Masatoshi Matsuzaki
- Promote Management Policy <09-10> with Speedy Dynamism -

Happy New Year!

The financial downturn and the credit crunch,originating in the USA in the second half of 2008,have swept through the global economy,causing unprecedented chaos in the financial environment. They also had a major impact on the real economy in 2009. Although some countries in the Asian region continued to show economic growth-notably China,which succeeded in economy-boosting measures-such developed countries and region as Japan,the USA,and Europe are still struggling to emerge from a long recession. In Japan and Europe,the outlook for 2010 is far from rosy,and economic recovery is not likely to be rapid. What is more,in view of the appreciating renminbi,the strong yen,the weak dollar and the concern over “double-dip” recession,business conditions remain,in my view,unpredictable.

Let us take a look at the Konica Minolta Group’s performance for fiscal 2009. Our core sector,the Business Technologies Business,took a very late start in the first quarter (April to June),and our Optics Business and other businesses were unable to make up the shortfall. Consequently,in October 2009,we announced a downward revision of our full-year operating performance forecast. Despite some negative factors -- such as the delay in economic recovery in the European region that accounts for about half of the sales made by our Business Technologies Business,and exchange-rate fluctuations -- the sales situation has been improving since the second quarter (July to September). Thanks partially to the effect of cost reductions,our operations are on the upswing.

In the midst of this adversity,we have calmly noted the paradigm shift under way in the global economy. We see this as a good opportunity to strengthen our corporate constitution to the point where we can generate profit even under unfavorable conditions like these,and to enhance our corporate capabilities. We are also seizing the chance to expand our business and promote our Management Policy <09-10>.

The three basic policies that make up our Management Policy <09-10> are as follows:

(1) Execute structural reforms:
This means forging ahead with reforms aiming to attain an earning structure capable of generating profit even without sales growth,developing our capacity to yield new value adapted to the changing world,and enhancing the quality of our individual operations.

(2) Achieve strong growth:
First,we shall expand existing businesses. Then we shall start working steadily towards the realization of sustainable growth. Our focus will be on the field other than information appliances in the production printing and optical devices,and on the fields of energy-saving and energy-creation such as OLED lighting-a whole new lighting technology-and solar power generation.

(3) Reform our corporate culture:
The Konica Minolta spirit of enterprise backed by courage and daring ideas is encapsulated in the internal slogan “simply BOLD”. Ever since the spring of 2008,we,involving all our group members,have been pursuing a reform of our corporate culture under this slogan.

Our growth trend had been put to halt from the second half of 2008 through 2009. From 2010 onwards,pushing even further ahead with these three basic policies,we shall set our trend back to the way we should be.

In ancient Persian,the word for “arrow” was tigrish. The name of the river Tigris,flowing through the region that was the cradle of one of the four major civilizations of the ancient world,is said to mean “river flowing as swiftly as an arrow”. In ancient Greek and Latin,the word tigris meant “ beast that runs as fast as an arrow”.This is said to have been the origin of the English word “tiger”. In 2010,the Year of the Tiger,we are going to exercise tigerish boldness and speedy dynamism as we pursue the three basic policies that constitute our Management Policy <09-10>.

In line with our management philosophy,“The Creation of New Value”,the Konica Minolta Group will continue to maintain compliance with best practice,helping to realize a better society through our own behavior and the products and services we provide,as we strive to remain a company that is supported,and regarded as a necessity,by society.

This year,as ever,your ongoing support for the Konica Minolta Group will be greatly appreciated.