Six Types of Capital for Value Creation
Since its foundation, the Nippon Soda Group has continued to create new value using its accumulated management capital.
We will continue to reinforce our capital to help us achieve sustainable growth.
Financial Capital
Implementing financial capital strategies that emphasize investment efficiency
- Through growth investments that prioritize ROI and thorough structural reform, we are promoting the transition to a business portfolio that is resilient to environmental changes and that produces stable earnings.
- We are driving capital policies that consider financial soundness while prioritizing a balance between growth investments and shareholder returns.
While prioritizing return on investment (ROI), we are moving forward with thorough structural reform, such as by proactively investing in high-added-value businesses and liquidating our unprofitable businesses. In doing so, we are promoting the shift to a highly efficient business portfolio.
As part of our current medium-term business plan, we are withdrawing from the electrolysis business related to caustic potash, an area in which we have continued to supply products for more than 90 years since beginning production in 1929. In addition, we are making the shift to high-added-value businesses, such as by launching new proprietarily developed agrochemicals to market, and increasing production and boosting sales of growth-driver products. Further, our target for shareholder return in the current medium-term business plan is a dividend payout ratio of 40%, and at the same time we are taking a flexible approach to the implementation of share buybacks.
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ROS
（Operating profit on sales）
10% or more
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ROA
（Operating profit on assets）
7% or more
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ROE
（Return on equity）
12% or more
(Targets for FY 2030, the final year of our long-term vision)
Manufacturing Capital
Creating a business foundation using our advanced technologies and expertise
- We are grasping market needs and making continuous investments so that we can continue to create products required by the times. (Example: Increasing production capacity for our pharmaceutical additive NISSO HPC, creating manufacturing facilities for new proprietarily developed agrochemicals, creating manufacturing facility for samples of new functional polymers, etc.
Through research into production technologies, the design and improvement of manufacturing processes, and collaboration with Group companies who possess advanced plant engineering technologies, we are working to reinforce the competitiveness of our products.
We have set up technological research buildings at our two core plants—the Nihongi Plant and the Takaoka Plant—and by bringing together our testing facilities, research personnel, and other manufacturing capital, we are working to enhance the synergy between our production technology-related expertise and know-how, and boost operational efficiency. In doing so, we are aiming to shorten the time it takes to launch new products to market and achieve mass production, and improve cost competitiveness by reducing production costs. Ultimately, the aim is to shift toward highly efficient manufacturing hubs and improve our corporate value.
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Capital investments
¥40.0billion(In the three years of our medium-term business plan, Stage Ⅱ)
Intellectual Capital
Advancing core technologies
- Our strengths lie in synthesis technologies, biological research, safety research, and formulation technologies for agrochemicals; polymer technologies that support the sophistication of ICT; and production technologies that support efficient, stable production activities.
- Our aim is to advance our core technologies through open innovation and digital transformation (DX).
We are targeting three new domains in which to set up new businesses so that we can achieve a sustainable society: Food (food tech), Healthcare (healthcare for people and animals), and Advanced Materials (nextgeneration ICT materials/carbon neutrality). By enhancing our proprietary technologies, combining our proprietary technologies, and introducing state-of-the-art technologies, we will aim to create new value in these domains.
Meanwhile, we are currently working to advance our core technologies through open innovation with external organizations in industry and academia, and through the establishment of a co-creation and research facility where we can engage in joint development with our customers. Further, we are carrying out investments to help fund material tech startups that are still in the so-called seed stage.
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Owned patent
2,050
（FY 2023）
non-consolidated -
R&D costs
¥6.31billion（FY 2023）
Human Capital
Good people doing good work
- The source of our value creation is an unwavering passion to solve difficult challenges one by one. Our Company DNA has remained unchanged since our founding—Good people doing good work.
- We are promoting the creation of workplaces where personnel with diverse strengths can flourish and maximize their capabilities.
We are promoting the creation of workplaces where employees can flourish with a sense of fulfillment, while working to boost motivation for each individual and revitalize their respective organizations. We also promote diversity management so that we can ensure sustainable development, building environments where employees with diverse values can maximize their capabilities regardless of their gender, age, nationality, ability or disability, or whether they are new graduates or mid-career hires.
We are also focusing on personnel development for the next generation. One such example is our opening of the experience-based Nisso Technical Training Center, where we are striving to transfer manufacturing technologies and expertise that cannot be learned at a desk. In this way, we are developing personnel who can manage the operation of safe, highly efficient manufacturing sites.
- Consolidated no. of employee 2,418 （FY 2023）
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Average length of service
19.8years（FY 2023）
non-consolidated -
Paid leave usage rate
77.0％（FY 2023）
non-consolidated
Social Capital
Expanding overseas businesses and promoting sustainable procurement
- By creating partnerships across the world and collaborating with industry and academia, we are developing cutting-edge, innovative technologies in niche fields.
- As a member of international society, we are aiming to create a sustainable supply chain that is environment- and societyfriendly.
As we aim to expand our overseas businesses, in the Agro Products Business we are working with local staff at our overseas hubs to ascertain market trends in each region. For pharmaceutical additives, meanwhile, we are dispatching technical and other staff to our business hubs in the US, Europe, and India where demand continues to grow. At the same time, we are engaged in joint research with organizations in industry and academia across the world, and using open innovation facilities to work with our customers and enhance our technical services.
For the procurement of raw materials, we make sure to monitor our suppliers from a sustainability standpoint, and are working to build a society- and environment-friendly supply chain.
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Overseas sales ratio
41.8％（FY 2023）
Natural Capital
Environmentally friendly, sustainable business activities
- We are promoting our business activities with a focus on Responsible Care, which ensures consideration for the environment, safety, and health.
- While minimizing environmental risks in our manufacturing processes and throughout our supply chain, we are striving to reduce our GHG emissions.
Through Responsible Care activities, at the Nippon Soda Group we strive to minimize the impact our chemical products have on the environment in every process from development and manufacture to distribution, use, final consumption, waste, and recycling. In addition to reducing our environmental impact by replacing our manufacturing processes and equipment with those that use fewer resources and less energy, we are also working to reduce GHG emissions, a challenge we share with international society.
Further, alongside the development of technologies for hydrogen—which is seen as a next-generation energy source—we are also promoting the creation of a decarbonized society through the protection of forests, which function as carbon sinks.
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Energy consumption
（crude oil equivalent）
95.2ML（FY 2023）
non-consolidated -
Water usage
17.3million tons（FY 2023）
our domestic
Nippon Soda plants
