October 22, 2014 Miyaike President briefing

[Moderator]

Thank you for waiting. From now on, we will start the 97th regular meeting.

[Miyaike president]

There are 4 topics prepared today.

 

[Current status of business (September 2014)]

See page 1 of document 1.

In terms of operating conditions, toll revenue in September was 54,324 million yen, an increase of 28% from the same month of the previous year, and the number of traffic per day was 1,923 thousand units, 2.4% of the same month of the previous year. Has decreased.

With regard to fee income, the discount rate system has continued to increase compared to the previous fiscal year due to the revision of the fee discount system from April following the end of the discounts for the convenience promotion business, and the same trend was observed in September.

The number of passing vehicles has continued to decrease compared to the previous year since the toll system was revised, and the same tendency was seen in September.

 

Next is the construction situation.

The construction of the main section of the Ebina Junction 4 km from the Samukawa-Kita Interchange on the Ken-O Road O Expressway is almost complete, and the pavement and equipment are under construction, and progress is being made as planned toward completion within FY2014.

Although it is not in the document, I will explain the status of the construction of 55 km from Shin-Tomei Expressway Hamamatsu-Inasa Junction to Toyota-higashi Junction.

Regarding the opening time of this section, we announced in July that it will be the end of 2015, but we have included measures to prevent slope cuts, nature-derived pyrite and heavy metals, which were factors in reviewing the opening time. Regarding the treatment of gravel and sand and the subsidence countermeasures for bridge foundations, we are proceeding as planned without the effects of the two typhoons 18 and 19.

 

Next is the situation of ETC.

Please see page 2 of Document 1.
The average daily usage rate in September was 91.0%.

 

Next is the situation of the service area.

Net sales in the service area in September were ¥15,260 million, a decrease of 0.7% year-on-year. Sales of the food and beverage sales department decreased by 2.8% compared to the same month of the previous year.This was because there were two consecutive holidays in September last year, but this year one of them was a stepping stone holiday. It is a factor.

Sales in the gasoline sector increased 4.2% year-on-year. Although the traffic volume decreased, the refueling volume exceeded the previous year and the gasoline unit price difference also increased by 10 yen.

 

Next, as I introduced at the last regular conference, it is a notice of the start of Tomei intensive construction.

Tomei intensive construction work has started this Monday, and will continue until November 7.

Please note that this year's intensive construction will be carried out for 3 weeks, especially in the 3rd week until the 2nd week.

We apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your understanding and cooperation during the construction period.

 

[Fuel production using plant-generated materials]

Next, I will inform you about the trial operation status of Ayuzawa pellet plant equipment.

See Appendix 2.

For the purpose of contributing to the environment/sustainable society and promoting the 3Rs of resources, we will use pelletized plant equipment to fuel plant-generated materials, cut grass, pruned branches, felled trees, etc., generated during Expressway maintenance. We are implementing measures with consideration.

In June of this year, the first Expressway company established the Ayusawa Pellet Plant, a fuel manufacturing facility that pelletizes plant-generated materials generated during Expressway maintenance, on the site of the former parking area in Yamakita-cho, Ashigakami-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture. The trial operation has started from.

This plant is characterized by its ability to pelletize cut grass, as 60% of our plant material is cut grass.

At the end of September trial operation status of the Tokyo Regional Head Office has occurred in the tube Expressway carries the cutting grass and felling vegetation of trees such as 230m3 in the glue surface and interchange, we produce pellets of about 15t. The manufactured pellets of about 15 tons can operate the air conditioning equipment of the tollgate facility on the Expressway (assuming it is open for 24 hours) for about 3 weeks, saving electricity consumption.

In the future, we would like to continue trial operation for about one year as the first biomass recycling model of our company, verify the production amount of pellets, quality, combustion efficiency of boiler, etc., and proceed with examination for this operation. I am.

 

[Bridge contest]

Next, we would like to inform you about the 9th Expressway "Bridge" Contest made with newspapers.

Please see document 3.

The "Bridge Contest" is a contest in which newspapers and adhesives that are familiar to us are used to Expressway bridges and compete in the design and strength of the works. The purpose of this contest is to encourage people to become interested in "manufacturing" and to become familiar with the Expressway through the production of their works. Held every year since 2006, this year marks the 9th time.

We would like to thank the mass media for sponsoring this contest.
In the “Competition for the beauty of bridges” category, 145 works were submitted under the theme of “Bridge of the Future”. October 4th (Sat) and 5th (Sun), at MOZO Wonder City in Nishi Ward, Nagoya City, the winning votes were decided by the visitors' votes and judges.

The "Bridge Strength Division"

• "Load-bearing department" competing for how many kilograms of weight a bridge made of 100 grams of newspaper can withstand
• "Lightweight division" competing for how light a bridge that can withstand a kilogram weight can be made
• "Group battle" in which you compete for the load against the school

The three final competitions will be held at the Nadia Park Design Hall on Saturday, November 1st, along with the award ceremony for the design department.

Please come to the venue and see the ingenious bridge that you can't imagine making with newspaper.

 

[Customer service contest]

Next is the last topic.

See Appendix 4.

The "6th SA/PA Customer Service Contest" will be held at Iino Hall, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, from 12:00 to 18:00 on Friday, November 7th.

"SA/PA customer service contest" is a qualifying session for each district targeting about 10,000 staff working at 153 SA/PAs operated by Nakanihon Exis with the aim of further improving CS (customer satisfaction) levels. This is the final contest for 30 people who have won the event.

Each of the "restaurant section", "food court section" and "merchandise sales section" will perform a role-playing demonstration from the customer's pick-up to see-off, and the judges will give a grade to determine the grand prix. On the same day, under the theme of "cultivation from hiring to inspiring human resources," three of the tenants who won the awards at the past competitions will be panelists to hold a panel discussion. Through these efforts, we will strive to improve the CS level of the entire area and aim to create an “exciting area” that exceeds customer expectations.

 

These are the topics we have prepared today.

 

[Moderator]

Now, we are ready to receive your questions.

 

[Reporter]

The construction of the Shin-Tomei Expressway Aichi prefecture section is said to be going well, but is it on schedule?

[President]

A typhoon has come in for two weeks in a row, but it hasn't had a big impact and is proceeding smoothly as planned.

[Reporter]

Does it mean that the scheduled opening time, which was delayed one year, will not change?

[President]

It doesn't change.

 

[Reporter]

Due to the relationship between toll revenue and the number of tolls in September, the number of tolls has decreased, but please explain more specifically about the increase in toll revenue.

[President]

It means that the difference has been increasing in this way as the convenience promotion project that had been implemented until last year ended at the end of March.

[Reporter]

What is the cause of the decrease in the number of passing cars?

[President]

There may be various factors, but the change in the rate discount system may be one effect. There are other possible economic factors, but we cannot conclude that this is the case.

[Reporter]

Since the price has actually risen, do you mean that more and more cars are driving on general roads avoiding Expressway?

[President]

I think there is a possibility.

[Reporter]

Is the trend of decreasing traffic volume continuing from April?

[President]

It has been decreasing since April.

 

[Reporter]

I would like to ask you about the Ayuzawa Pellet Plant. Please tell us about how many years you can recover the investment and how much you expect to reduce the electricity bill.

[President]

Employees will explain the specific numbers, but we have calculated that the investment can be recovered in about 7 to 8 years.

[Employees]

This year's test operation period, we plan to bring about 1000 m³ of generated material and manufacture about 70 t of pellets. It costs a little less than 10 million yen to dispose of it as trash as it is. On the other hand, pellet production costs about 7.7 million yen, so we estimate that the reduction will be about 2 million yen. We would like to increase the production volume a little more from next year.
Regarding the reduction of electricity bill, if you use 15t manufactured in August-September in the air conditioner of FujiedaOkabe IC, which has a boiler facility that can use pellets, it will be about 23.1 days, and the electricity bill for about 40,000 yen will be saved. I think we can save.

[Reporter]

Will trial operation be carried out for one year, and will this operation be implemented in all ICs?

[President]

We will continue to consider it based on the trial results, so the next development is undecided.

 

[Reporter]

Regarding the Sasako accident, I heard that you met with the bereaved at the information session on 15th this month. Please tell us your impressions at that time. In addition, I heard that you are considering storing wagons at a training facility in Kawasaki City, but some bereaved families have requested that they be open to the public. Please tell us about the possibility of public release.

[President]

We met on October 15th with the bereaved family of five people in a wagon. We specifically explained the efforts and progress of the 3-Year Plan for Improving Safety. After that, I heard various stories from the bereaved family. Upon hearing, I renewed my determination not to cause such a tragic accident again. Re-recognizing the tragedy of losing a family suddenly, with a deep remorse and strong determination that ``you should never have such an accident again'', firmly 3-Year Plan for Improving Safety, and then The entire company has renewed its determination to create a safety culture.

Regarding accident vehicles, about 800 employees of our company have visited so far, recognizing the misery of the accident, apologizing to the bereaved families and those who died, and pledged to work on ensuring the safety of the Expressway. . In the future, I would like to leave it as a training facility for future generations and use it for employee safety education. In addition, the bereaved family told us that they would like the accident vehicle to be open to the public. There are various issues regarding this, so we are currently considering it.

[Reporter]

Is it possible that you are considering it?

[President]

There is a possibility.

[Reporter]

Is this the first time I have met the family of a wagon? Also, please tell us about the issues for the public release.

[President]

I met you for the first time. Regarding issues, we would like to consider where to install them. We have the vehicle, but the equipment such as the tunnel ceiling board is currently managed by the police, so I think that we need to decide concrete things in consideration of these things.

[Reporter]

What kind of opinion did the survivors have regarding the progress made during the meeting with the survivors due to the Sasako accident? Were there any new requests other than the 3-Year Plan for Improving Safety? Please tell us about the time when you would like to publish the wagon vehicle, and when you would like to use it for training.

[President]

We would like to establish a wagon vehicle as a training facility at the earliest possible time, but we are not at the stage of making a specific statement yet. In the explanation of the progress of the 3-year plan for the bereaved family, we also received the phrase "please do it firmly." On the other hand, there was also a statement that "it was still a long way from", but I think that you generally appreciated our efforts.

 

[Moderator]

It seems that the question has been interrupted, so this will end the regular press conference.