Stakeholder Engagement
Advantest implements the following types of communication with stakeholders.
| Main stakeholders | Main communication methods |
|---|---|
| Shareholders and investors |
Shareholders' meetings, reports, and interim reports Financial results and quarterly/annual financial securities reports Corporate governance reports Information dissemination through IR tools (Website, Integrated Annual Report) Quarterly briefings for institutional investors and analysts on the same day of earnings announcement Dialogues during individual meetings, small meetings and various briefing sessions Individual meetings with major domestic and overseas institutional investors Individual meetings with major domestic and overseas shareholders |
| Customers |
CSR questionnaire User group meetings (VOICE) Exhibitions (SEMICON, etc.) Website |
| Suppliers |
CSR questionnaire Suppliers New Year Meeting QCD Cooperate Forum |
| Employees |
Labor-management negotiations Employee Engagement Survey Various training and workshop sessions Internal newsletter, intranet |
| Local Communities | Implementation of social contribution activities Implementation of science craft classes and other next-generation education Biotope nature observation events |
Engagement with Shareholders and Investors
General Meeting of Shareholders
Advantest considers the General Meeting of Shareholders to be an important opportunity for promoting dialogues with our shareholders.
The General Meeting of Shareholders for fiscal 2023 was held in Tokyo for the first time in three years for the convenience of our shareholders, with COVID-19 measures relaxing across Japan. We had been holding the General Meeting of Shareholders at our facility in Gunma since 2020 in an effort to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, but some of our shareholders had asked us to hold the meeting in Tokyo. We have made the change to hold the meeting in Tokyo in response to this request. As a result, twice as many shareholders as last fiscal year participated.
In addition, this year, following the amendments to the Companies Act, the company has electronically provided the Convocation Notices. We have set forth further promotion of ESG initiatives in our Grand Design, and consideration for the environment is one of the most important issues that we must address. Therefore, we have decided to hold the General Meeting of Shareholders in an environmentally friendly manner. Specifically, we have reduced the number of items to be sent by mail to only one A3 sheet, including the Notice of Access and the summary of shareholder reference documents, instead of the 60-page booklet that used to be sent by mail. This attempt to minimize the use of paper and ink in consideration of the environment has led to significant cost reductions not only in paper and printing costs, but also in mailing costs. This year's meeting was also livestreamed so that as many shareholders as possible could attend the meeting. In addition, in order to enhance dialogue with shareholders, we accepted questions online in advance of the meeting, and also allowed them to message us online during the livestream. Of the questions received in advance and during the livestream, those that were deemed to be of high interest to shareholders were answered during the meeting.
Besides the abovementioned, the following efforts are being made ensure dialogue with our shareholders.
- Holding the General Shareholder's Meeting by avoiding the days on which many companies hold general shareholder's meetings
- Disclosure of the convocation notice at least three weeks prior to the meeting
- Disclosure of the Annual Securities Report prior to the General Meeting of Shareholders
- English translation of the entire Convocation Notice and Annual Securities Report
We will continue to enhance the openness and accessibility of our General Meeting of Shareholders while taking ESG into consideration.
Shareholder's Meeting
IR activities
To fulfill the company's duty to demonstrate the company's accountability to our shareholders and investors, and to further increase the level of trust placed in the company, Advantest has formulated the Basic Investor Relations Policy, which summarizes policies related to information disclosure, IR activities and shareholder communication. Based on this policy, we are working to foster more intensive communication with shareholders and investors under the direction of our Representative Director, President, Group CEO.
Specifically, we will disclose important information in a timely, fair and appropriate manner to shareholders and investors both in Japan and overseas, and hold a financial briefing every quarter, during which senior Advantest managers will give presentations. We will also hold individual meetings with domestic and overseas institutional investors (around 460 meetings in fiscal 2022), as well as business and technical briefings, in order to swiftly communicate changes and business trends in semiconductor technologies, which are closely related to our business, to the stock market.
Advantest is also working to enhance information disclosure on the corporate website. Feedback and opinions received from shareholders and investors is shared at the Board of Directors, and incorporated into our planning for a sustainable level of business development and mid-to-long term enhancement of corporate value.
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We held an online technical briefing in December 2022 and sustainability briefing in March 2023 for securities analysts and institutional investors.
Dialog with Suppliers
To help build harmonious relationships with suppliers, Advantest holds an annual NEW Year's reception for valued suppliers, and QCD Cooperate Forum with suppliers. Besides providing an opportunity for presenting awards that give recognition to suppliers who have made a particularly valuable contribution to Advantest's business, these events also provide an opportunity for the suppliers to exchange their opinions with Advantest's Group CEO and Directors.
In January 2023, we invited our business partners to our Annual Supplier Reception, which was our first supplier reception in three years, owing to COVID-19. 199 people from 103 partner companies participated in this event. During the event, the Group CEO, Group Co-COO, and CPO provided business overviews and future prospects, in addition to addressing our environmental and social initiatives.
We continue to maintain good relationships with our business partners amid growing concerns of the global economic recession.
Dialog with Employees
We actively communicate with our employees through dissemination of the Group CEO's Message, the monthly Morning Meetings and Meetings of All Employees which are held at each business location, the New Year Greeting event held in January each year, the Spring Labor Talks which are held each year starting in February, the ceremony to mark the company's founding which is held in July each year, the Central Labor Negotiations which are held in September each year, and various social events, etc.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had continued these practices by scaling-down the events, switching to video streaming and online meetings, and taking other measures. Since 2022, the proceedings of the anniversary ceremony have been livestreamed and recorded on the video so that employees around the world can participate virtually in real time.