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Our Relationship with Shareholders and Investors

The Kobe Steel Group as a whole strives to increase its corporate value by pursuing business development from a medium- to long-term perspective. As part of our efforts we naturally place a high priority on returning profits to shareholders and recognize the importance of enhancing management transparency through open communication with all stakeholders, including shareholders and investors. To that end, we are committed to the appropriate and timely disclosure of a broad array of information and to its widespread release.

Return to Shareholders

Kobe Steel place high priority on returning profits to shareholders and is committed to increasing its overall corporate value by pursuing business operations from a medium- to long-term perspective.

The distribution of profits is decided based on comprehensive consideration of various factors, including the company’s current financial condition, trends in business performance, and future demand for capital. With regard to dividends, Kobe Steel’s policy is to provide continuous and stable distribution, taking into account such factors as each period's business results and the payout ratio.

We make use of retained earnings in an effort to improve profitability by allocating a portion to investment for future growth and to improve and strengthen our financial position.

For the foreseeable future, we will share our profits in accordance with our business results, targeting a dividend payout ratio of about 15% to 25% of our consolidated net income.

Our Articles of Incorporation stipulate that the distribution of retained earnings shall be determined by the Board of Directors based on paragraph 1 of Article 459 and paragraph 1 of Article 460 of the Companies Act.

Accordingly, dividends are in principle paid out twice a year, at the end of the half-year period and at the end of the fiscal year, as stipulated by the Articles of Incorporation, after resolution by the Board of Directors. For dividends to be paid out on any other date, the date must be designated separately by the Board.

Dividend Payouts

^* Dividend payout ratios not applicable for fiscal 2011 due to posting a consolidated net loss

^* No dividend was paid for fiscal 2012.

Dividend Payouts

Shareholdings

Shareholdings by Type of Ownership (as of March 31, 2014)

Information Disclosure

To maintain the trust and support of shareholders and investors over the long term, we take accountability very seriously and strive to make timely and appropriate disclosures of corporate information and financial data. We disclose information in strict observance of statutory disclosure standards and in accordance with stock exchange rules for the timing of disclosures. It is our aim to have the Kobe Steel Group's business conditions and activities widely understood for an accurate appraisal of corporate value, through the active, timely, and ongoing release of disclosable information relevant to investment decisions, even in cases when the timely disclosure rules do not apply.

To Our Shareholders (a semiannual publication for Japanese shareholders)

To Our Shareholders
(a semiannual publication for Japanese shareholders)

Communicating with Shareholders and Investors

Communicating with Shareholders

We see shareholders’ meetings as the forum for direct communication with shareholders. To encourage as many as possible to attend, we send out invitations well in advance and choose dates that do not conflict with other major shareholders' meetings. We also make it possible for shareholders to vote via the Internet (including cell phones).

Since fiscal 2007 we have been holding tours for shareholders to help them deepen their understanding of the Kobe Steel Group and its diverse lines of business. To date we have invited 3,535 shareholders (including companions) to a total of 13 tours. The following are the sites that have been visited thus far:

Kakogawa Works (steel: Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture)
Kobe Works (steel: Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture)
Takasago Works (steel [steel castings and forgings, titanium products], machinery: Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture)
Moka Plant (aluminum [aluminum sheet]: Moka, Tochigi Prefecture)
Kobe Corporate Research Laboratories (Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture)
Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. GEC/Itsukaichi Factory (Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture)

We will continue to hold tours at various sites in the future to give shareholders a deeper understanding of our operations. We will also consider holding tours at new sites and increasing the number of tours given.

Facility Tours for Shareholders

Kakogawa Works

Takasago Works

Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. GEC/Itsukaichi Factory

Communicating with Institutional Investors

We hold briefings on financial results four times a year for institutional investors and securities analysts in Japan, to give them a better understanding of Kobe Steel’s management policies, operating results, and financial position.

We also arrange individual meetings and make every effort to maintain ongoing communication with institutional investors and securities analysts, both at home and abroad.

Communicating with Individual Investors

The Kobe Steel website

In addition to publications such as To Our Shareholders, which is sent to Japanese shareholders semiannually, we also provide an annual report, annual securities report (in Japanese), this sustainability report, and other information for individual investors on our website.

In 2012 we updated our website, putting effort into giving visitors a deeper understanding of the Kobe Steel Group. This includes a layout that makes it easy to search for group products and technologies that sustain life in familiar ways and overviews of manufacturing sites through images in addition to postings of the latest news and publications.

We have also opened websites in English and Chinese so that individual investors overseas can learn more about the Kobe Steel Group.

The Kobe Steel Group will continue to strive for greater information disclosure and quality improvements in communication with the hope of maintaining the trust of shareholders and investors for many years to come.