CENTRAL JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY Annual Report 2007

in March 2005 that, “the foundational technology for the Superconducting
Maglev is established for practical application.” Based on all of the
above, JR Central will invest ¥355 billion of its own funds into the
Yamanashi Maglev Test Line facilities in order to completely change
the specifications to suit for practical use and conduct new
experiments for confirming the practicality of the Superconducting
Maglev after lengthening the line to 42.8km.
As already mentioned above, JR Central’s field of managerial
responsibility, or in other words, its “mission”, is management of
high-speed railway that connects the Tokyo, Chukyo (or Nagoya)
and Kinki (or Osaka) regions. In light of the facts that the transport
performance of the Tokaido Shinkansen is close to full capacity and
that its transportation services have nearly reached a perfect level,
JR Central is deliberating on how to promote and construct, on its
own initiative, a second Tokaido Shinkansen that has sufficient
transport performance and can offer quantitative and high-quality
services over these regions, or in other words, how to realize a
second, more advanced transportation artery that can develop and
replace its function. JR Central is examining this long-term project
based on the results of geographic and geologic surveys, the
knowledge gained from the Yamanashi Maglev Test Line and also
running tests to verify the practicality of the Superconducting Maglev
over a 42.8km test line. At the first stage of such deliberation
processes, the company is considering to set a preliminary goal to
start commercial operation of this new Shinkansen between the
Tokyo metropolitan and Chukyo (or Nagoya) regions by 2025.
Affiliated business
In regard to non-railway businesses, JR Central aims to enhance
the overall strength of the JR Central Group by expanding business
with an emphasis on business fields which are expected to produce
a synergy effect with the railway business. A representative
example is the business development in the JR Central Towers in
Nagoya Station. In order to realize intensive and effective use of the
company’s assets, JR Central is continuing to develop the “JR
Central Shin-Yokohama Station Building (tentative)” and disused
sites of former company housing. Furthermore, in major stations,
JR Central is actively developing businesses that can sufficiently
take advantage of station locations such as by promoting the
renewal of commercial facilities within stations in conjunction with
renovating station facilities themselves and performing quakeresistant
reinforcement of elevated track columns. Through these
measures, the company is striving to further enhance the overall
strength of the entire JR Central Group.
Environmental conservation activities
In response to global environmental issues, JR Central believes
that it should enhance the characteristics of railways which is
environment friendly transportation and is actively promoting
measures that contribute to the preservation of the global
environment, starting with the introduction of the Series N700,
which is extremely energy-efficient. The company is engaged in
efforts to allow as many customers as possible to utilize railways,
which has less impact on the global environment. Furthermore, the
company aims for the widespread penetration of the concept of
“Eco Business Trips” and is actively disseminating related
information.
Reduction of long-term debt and payables
JR Central has positioned the elimination of long-term debt and
payables, which totaled a maximum of ¥5.5 trillion, as one of its
most important corporate priorities. The company has reduced its
long-term debt and long-term payables by ¥2 trillion to achieve
Masayuki Matsumoto
President
steady improvement in our financial condition. The company will
maintain this policy, and is committed to strengthening its financial
position and consolidating its business foundation.
Business Activities and Performance for the year
ended March 31, 2007 (FY 2006 or FY 2007.3)
During the period, JR Central prioritized the fundamentals of
railway operation: safe and reliable transportation. We strove to
enhance our competitive edge and improve service. These policies,
coupled with flourish economy, resulted in increase of ridership on
the Tokaido Shinkansen and in good affiliated businesses, which
led the operating revenues to increase. In regard to expenses,
whereas operating expenses increased as a result of quake-resistant
reinforcement, etc., non-operating expenses, such as interest
expenses, etc., decreased. As a result, operating revenues for the
period increased 1.6% year-on-year to ¥1.4912 trillion, ordinary
profit increased 10.9% year-on-year to ¥236.6 billion, and net profit
increased 12.0% year-on-year to ¥137.1 billion, all of which were
record breaking numbers.
In regard to long-term debt, we achieved a decrease of ¥47 billion.
As a result, the balance of long-term debt as of FY2007.3 was
¥3.4985 trillion.
In regard to the year-end dividend, due to an expansion of business
and the prosperous economy, transportation volume in the second
half showed good trends, which has made us decide to pay out a
dividend of ¥4,000 per share, an increase per share of ¥500, which
means that the annual dividend was ¥7,500 per share.
Going forward, we will continue to endeavor to further improve
our performance in order to strengthen our managerial foundations
and maintain stable dividends.
Chairman Yoshiyuki Kasai
President Masayuki Matsumoto
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