March 23, 2011 Kaneko Chairman and President Regular Meeting

(Moderator)

Thank you for waiting. The 65th regular press conference is about to begin.

 

(Chairman and President)

Hello everyone. We would like to thank all of you for gathering in spite of your busy schedule due to the earthquake.
First of all, I would like to pray for the souls of those who have died in the recent Tohoku Earthquake, and to express my deepest sympathies to everyone affected.
We pray for the quickest possible recovery as soon as possible, and the NEXCO Central Japan Group will do our best to support you.
The NEXCO Central Japan area has already taken toll-free measures for vehicles approved by the government, police, etc., such as emergency vehicles heading to the disaster area and vehicles for transporting goods. In addition, we will dispatch trucks and tank trucks for the delivery of goods to victims of the earthquake and those who have been evacuated from the vicinity of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. We support water trucks, groceries, drinking water, etc.
We have decided to donate the donation to the entire NEXCO Central Japan Group so that it can be utilized for the quick recovery of the disaster area even one day. We are accepting donations from customers in the service area and parking area as well, so we would like to ask all of you who use Expressway for your cooperation.
With the premium Drivers' card issued by our company, we have started a service that allows card members to exchange points as donations. The points exchanged by all members will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society. We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of all card members.
By the way, as for the Expressway and general toll roads in our jurisdiction, as a result of the inspection after the earthquake, there was no damage that hindered running, so you can use it with confidence. Please see pages 2 to 3 of the reference material for the status of road closures after the earthquake and changes in traffic volume before and after the earthquake.
The traffic volume has been decreasing since the earthquake, and especially in the Kanto region. As for routes, the situation is that Tomei, Chuo Expressway, and Nagano Expressway are decreasing. This is due to the combined effects of the situation that the number of emergency vehicles and large-scale vehicles such as procurement of goods is increasing while the shortage of gasoline is accelerating and is drastically decreasing in addition to refraining from the Kanto area. It is assumed that the result is.
Please see pages 6-7 of the reference material. In response to the government's policy regarding power shortages, we are cooperating to save electricity by turning off road lights and dim tunnel lights in some sections of Expressway.
When using Expressway, please be careful about the safety while driving in the tunnel or turning on the lights early in the evening.
Even in rest facilities such as service areas, we are continuing to operate at the minimum necessary for disaster support and long-distance driving safety while striving to save electricity, such as dim lighting in parking lots, toilets and commercial facilities. . We apologize for the inconvenience, but we ask for your understanding and cooperation so that you can use this service with caution.
Even during power saving and planned blackouts, ETC vehicles and ordinary vehicles can still use the toll booth by supplying power by private power generation. The rest facility in the area where the planned power outage is implemented may be reduced in size or closed for business, but we are working to provide customers with the products they need. We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding.
At gas stations in service areas, etc., it is currently difficult to provide a stable fuel supply. Therefore, some gas stations in the NEXCO Central Japan area have restrictions on refueling. Although the situation is improving little by little, it is a situation that can not be predicted, so when using Expressway, please check the remaining fuel amount and drive with plenty of margin. .
Please note that we prioritize refueling for emergency vehicles and vehicles required for maintenance of Expressway. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
Last but not least, NEXCO Central Japan Group will cooperate in securing the employment of the affected people. NEXCO Central Japan Companies in our Group 's toll collection business, Extall Nagoya and Extall Yokohama, plans to hire about 400 employees as required for toll collection next year. If the person who is evacuated to 1 prefecture and 11 prefectures in our company applies, we will consider hiring as much as possible. Details will be posted on the homepage of each toll collection company.
That is all about the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake.

Next is the current status of the business in February.
Fee revenue in February was 32,195 million yen, down 0.6% from the same month the year before. By breakdown, high-speed trains were ¥ 29,925 million, an increase of 1.6%, and high-end trains were ¥ 2,269 million, a decrease of 22.3%.
On the other hand, the average number of passengers in February was 1,868,000 units, an increase of 12.3% year-on-year.
The breakdown is that the daily high-speed average is 1,405,000 units, an increase of 6.3%, and the one-owner is 463,000 units, an increase of 35.5%.
In terms of the number of passing vehicles, in addition to an increase due to free social experiments centering on general toll roads, the number of toll sections such as highways has also increased compared to last year, so overall it increased by 12.3% compared to last year. . On the other hand, fee income was negative compared to last year due to the impact of the free social experiment.
The ETC discount amount for this month was 25.6 billion yen, an increase of 0.1% compared to 25.5 billion yen for the same month last year. The discount rate is about 44.2%.

Next is the construction situation.
Between Mei-Nikan Expwy and Mei-Nikan Expressway Junction Nagoya-minami and Takanee Junction, along with the parallel National Route 302, we opened as of March 20th at 15:00.
Please note that the opening ceremony was not held due to the occurrence of the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake.
This is the traffic volume for the opening section, but we have been using about 16,000 vehicles for the 24-hour traffic volume on Mondays and Equinox days.
It is a comparison only for the data on the day after the opening, but between Toshin Miyoshi Inter of Tomei Expressway and Nisshin Junction, about 14,000 units decreased from the same day last year, but Isewangan Expwy is also about 1. The number of vehicles has decreased by 44,000, and we believe that the decrease in traffic volume due to the earthquake and other factors is a major factor.
In addition, the cross-sectional traffic volume on the Nagoya Expressway No. 3 Odaka Line has decreased by about 16,000 units compared to the same day last year. This may be due to the reduction in traffic volume due to the impact of the earthquake, but we recognize that the traffic has been decentralized.
In addition, this time, the trend of the data is only on Monday, Equinox Day, and one day, and we would like to analyze it in consideration of the impact of the earthquake and other disasters.

Next is the usage of ETC excluding the free social experiment section. Compared to 2/4 to 2/10 in the latest 3/4 to 3/10, the average daily number of passengers increased by 2.8% and the average daily utilization rate increased from 88.8% to 89.0%, 0.2%. By weekday and weekends and holidays, the average weekday usage rate and weekend average holiday usage rate increased from 88.8% to 89.0%, 0.2%.
The cumulative number of vehicle-mounted devices installed at the end of February increased by 0.8% compared to the end of January, increasing by 270,000 units to approximately 33.88 million units.

Next is the status of the service area.
February service area sales were 10,676 million yen, a year-on-year increase of 109.4%. By road, Higashi-Meihan Expressway was particularly good at 140.7% and Kisei Road 131.4%.
At Higashi-Meihan Expressway, it has been about six months since the grand opening of "EXPASA Gozaisho", but it has been well-received by many customers, and we believe Kiseido will be influenced by the free social experiment. I will.
Breaking down sales by department, the “Food and Beverage Sales Division” increased 108.3% year-on-year to ¥ 617 million.
A further breakdown of the “Food and Food Sales Division” is that the “Food and Food Division” increased by 179 million yen, or 106.7% from the previous year, and the “Product Sales Division” was 109.3%, or 438 million yen. It has increased by 10,000 yen. Next, in the "service sector (rest-in, bath)", it was 120.9% up from the previous year, an increase of 5 million yen. In the "GS sector", the refueling volume was 106.5% compared to the previous year, and the unit price difference was also higher. With the increase of 9 yen, sales increased by 2.7 million yen, or 112.7% from the previous year.

The above is the current state of business in February.

Regarding the new charge, I heard from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism yesterday that the guideline will be issued today, but as of 2 o'clock today, I do not have the information yet. I would like to tell everyone as soon as information comes in even during the interview.

The next topic is the announcement of the endowed course at Nagoya University.
NEXCO Central Japan has signed an "Agreement on Promotion of Comprehensive Collaboration" with Nagoya University in May of last year, and is currently working on various collaborations.
As a result of discussions on the establishment of endowed courses as part of the collaboration, we decided to open a endowed course at NEXCO Central Japan from April in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering of the Graduate School of Engineering.
The name of the course is "Infrastructure technology development and transfer course (NEXCO Central Japan)". The period is scheduled for three years from April this year.
There are two major research themes, and the first is to study the ideal technology transfer to be involved in overseas infrastructure development projects. This is not limited to Expressway, but we would like to deal with general infrastructure. The other is to extend the life of road structures. We are promoting the “100 Years Road Plan” and aim to establish technology to easily and accurately grasp the soundness of roads in preparation for the aging of roads. We believe that these two themes are closely related to our future business and will be meaningful to Japan in the future.
Regarding the activities of the endowed courses, we would like to disseminate information at an appropriate time while watching the progress of research.

The next topic is environmentally friendly efforts. This time is "Towards coexistence between wild birds and Expressway."
Higashi-Meihan Expwy of Yatomi interchange, in Kanie Interchange, Expressway without impairing the function and safety, to preserve the heron habitat, herons and the Expressway we are the development of Ekorodo for the purpose of coexistence with.
In August 2010, we signed a memorandum of understanding regarding cooperation and cooperation with the Yatomi Wild Bird Garden in Aichi Prefecture and the Wild Bird Society of Japan Aichi Prefecture Branch in order to continue these efforts.
Furthermore, in order to make this effort widely known, a booklet explaining the necessity and method of coexisting the heron and the Expressway, "The reason why the Expressway became the home of the heron-for nature and people to live together" -"Was produced. Editing was done by members of the memorandum and published by NEXCO Central Japan.
The booklet will be distributed to elementary schools, libraries, children's centers, etc. in Aichi and northern Mie prefectures for use in environmental education, as well as the Yatomi Bird Garden in Aichi Prefecture and the Wild Bird Society of Japan Aichi Prefectural Branch We would like you to actively utilize it at and parent-child seminars.
We will continue to promote the creation of eco roads.

The next topic is about ITS Spot Service.
In NEXCO Central Japan, in cooperation with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Expressway companies, we have made preparations to develop a smart way service using ITS (Intelligent Transport System). Now that the equipment is ready, we will start operating the "ITS Spot Service" by the end of this month.
The ITS Spot Service uses the same communication technology as ETC to enable high-speed, large-capacity communication between the "ITS Spot" installed around Expressway nationwide and the "Compatible Car Navi" installed in automobiles. , Provides a wide range of services such as road traffic information and safe driving support. This is a field that we would like to focus on in the future.
Prior to the start of this operation, we decided to hold a briefing session on the "ITS Spot Service" for the members of the press in order to gain a deeper understanding of the service content. Please take this opportunity to join us. . The implementation time is urgent, but on Friday the 25th, the location will be at the Ichinomiya Road Control Center.

I have not distributed the materials to you, but I would like to say a few words.
At the beginning of this month, as reported in newspapers, all our citizens, including customers using the Expressway about our employees being inspected by the National Tax Bureau for alleged violations of the Income Tax Law. We sincerely apologize for this.
First of all, our priority is to grasp the facts, and we are fully cooperating with the investigation of the NTA. Also, with the cooperation of outside experts, we are continuing to make necessary internal investigations.
We will inform you again when the facts become clear.

That's all for today's topics.

 

(Moderator)

Now, I would like to answer your questions.

(Reporter)

I have received data such as traffic volume after the earthquake. How are you forecasting future toll revenue and traffic volume?

(Chairman and President)

The traffic volume data after the earthquake is according to the materials you have, but I think that the situation of traffic volume reduction will continue for some time. It is speculated that one of the factors may be refraining from running, and the other may be that the car's gasoline is not normally supplied. I think it will gradually recover, but I think the decrease in traffic will continue for the time being.

(Reporter)

Regarding the new charges after April, the national policy has not been decided at this stage. Could you comment if the policy is decided?

(Chairman and President)

I understand.

(Reporter)

I would like to confirm two points due to the earthquake. The first point was the explanation from the president, please tell us in detail about the employment support, how long the recruitment was and how the employment system is, etc. The second point is planned power outages, but I think that supply will become even more severe toward the summer, but please tell us the prospect of how the lights off and dimming currently being implemented will be operated from now on. Please give me.

(Chairman and President)

Regarding employment, I mentioned about 400 people earlier, but in detail, it will be 390 people, 260 people at Ext Nagoya and 130 people at Ext Yokohama. The recruitment will be from this April, and although it will not reach 400 at a stretch, I would like to hire one after another over a year. Details will be posted on each company's website in the future.
Regarding planned blackouts, we are saving electricity at a rest facility located in the TEPCO area, which is inconvenient for our customers. Thank you for your understanding. In addition, we believe that it will be important to deal with the situation especially in the summer, and we will immediately consider how to deal with it.

(Reporter)

Regarding the employment of Extor, please tell us how you feel when you support.

(Chairman and President)

Looking at the current situation in the disaster-stricken areas, I think that our company wants to provide some kind of support and that is one of them. There is a limit to what we can do from Nagoya, but we want to provide as much support as possible, and we think that hiring as part of that is one of the things we can do.

(Reporter)

Is it for those who have evacuated here?

(Chairman and President)

That's right. I have heard that some people have already been evacuated to Aichi Prefecture. This applies not only to Aichi Prefecture but also to people who have evacuated to our business area.

(Reporter)

After the earthquake, please do so within a range that you can generate traffic, daily average, toll income, etc. for about one week.

(Chairman and President)

On page 4 of your document, you can find the traffic conditions for the first and second weeks after the earthquake. For example, in the lower right, there is a graph of Tomei Yokohama-Machida IC to Atsugi IC. The graph on the left is Out-bound 9% from 3/15 to 3/22. The number has decreased by 4,700. In-bound same section has increased by 1%. Immediately after the earthquake, it fell by almost 30%, but it seems that it has returned a little since then.
3 page of the document, of the same Tomei Yokohama-Machida in IC ~ Atsugi IC, Out-bound 20%, In-bound is 18% of the decrease. The central highway also has a 21% decrease in Out-bound 16% decrease in In-bound. This is a comparison with 3/8, so just before and just after the earthquake. Page 4 of the material is a comparison with 3/15, so the situation is gradually improving from the fall immediately after the earthquake.

(Reporter)

The world's largest earthquake occurred this time, but NEXCO Central Japan is taking measures against the Tokai and Tonankai earthquakes naturally, and it was reviewed for safety management of the Tomei Expressway due to the occurrence of this earthquake. Are you aware that you need?

(Chairman and President)

There is no need to revisit anything. In our jurisdiction, Tomei was damaged by typhoon No. 9 last year, and it was damaged in Makinohara last year. So, if there is a disaster like this, I think the system is in place. However, there are some reflections internally. I learned about the internal organization and command and command system immediately after the earthquake because I was in Tokyo this time and I was not at the head office, but there are some things that I felt that I have to improve myself. . We will take advantage of this to improve these points.

(Reporter)

You mentioned that there are areas for improvement in crisis management. Could you tell us exactly what you felt in the range possible, one or two?

(Chairman and President)

It is BCP. System and disaster countermeasures immediately after the earthquake, how to set up an in-house system, contact network, communication methods when mobile phones are not available. Then, on that day, executives were working in their respective worksites, where they would gather at that time, so how to create a unified system in such a situation and establish a command / command system based on that system It's even more speedy, how to instantly establish. It's internal, but it's a little late, so that's a big reflection.

(Reporter)

The documentation of 6-4 pages, but has come out in cross-section traffic volume before and after the earthquake, 3/15 Tomei Expressway of Yokohama-Machida- Atsugi of In-bound traffic volume of to a growing number Out-bound for being is reduced circumstances, How is this analysis done?
Also, when looking at the Tomei Expressway whole, whether the total number of passing traffic is increasing or decreasing before and after the earthquake, the data is a comparison between Tuesdays, but is there no data for the whole week?

(Chairman and President)

As for the first question, I think Out-bound isn't showing up. In-bound is increasing, I think there is support for East Japan. Please give some additional explanation from the person in charge.

(Employee)

Regarding the traffic volume, about 30% of the traffic volume has fallen in the Tokyo metropolitan area on the Tomei and Chuo Expressway immediately after the earthquake compared to before the earthquake. After that, it gradually recovered, and as of yesterday, March 22, it was about 20% less than before the earthquake. The actual traffic volume is 48,900 In-bound and 46,200 Out-bound between the Tomei Expressway Yokohama-Machida IC and Atsugi IC on 3/22.
Also, the bar graph on page 3 of the material is red for small cars and blue for large cars. Red is a small car, and it is decreasing because it is generally absent and does not go out much. With regard to large blue vehicles, the amount of assistance to the disaster area has increased considerably, so it can be said that the trend is not on the decline.
It's been less than two weeks since the earthquake, and I think traffic will continue to increase slightly in the future, but I haven't analyzed when it will recover before the earthquake.

(Reporter)

The whole story isn't there, but is there only cross-sectional traffic?

(Employee)

At this stage, there is only cross-sectional traffic between each IC.

(Reporter)

Do you have any fee income?

(Employee)

Not at this stage.
Roughly speaking, in the Chubu region (especially around Aichi, Mie, Gifu) and the west side of the Hokuriku Expressway, there is not much fluctuation in traffic volume even at the local point. At this point it's exactly as it was for the whole year.

(Reporter)

I explained that the temporary decrease of 30% in the Tokyo metropolitan area has returned to 20%, but the table on page 3 shows a 20% decrease. There is no 30% reduction notation, but does this mean that there is a 30% reduction if you go to the central part of the metropolitan area?

(Employee)

It means that it will be reduced by 30% in the early days after the earthquake. The situation of 3/22 shown today is 20% reduction.

(Reporter)

Does that mean you have recovered from this week?

(Employee)

exactly.

(Reporter)

Mr. Kaneko, you said earlier, that you will not take measures against earthquakes again. What are your thoughts on measures against tsunamis?

(Chairman and President)

We are not thinking about a specific tsunami, but there is a reason for the Tomei Expressway, so the first thing to do is to close the road immediately. Regarding tsunami countermeasures, we do not currently have any special plans. However, I think we need to consider it in the future.

(Reporter)

Until now, we have taken tsunami forecasts and taken countermeasures, but this time there was an unexpectedly large earthquake, so is it all right to consider it again?

(Chairman and President)

exactly.

(Moderator)

This concludes the regular press conference.