January 23, 2008 Chairman Yano's regular press conference

(Moderator)

Then we will start a regular conference.

(Chairman)

Hi everyone.
Thank you for gathering in the footsteps.
First of all, the current situation of the business, but the fee income in December was minus 2.1% compared to the same month of the previous year. The breakdown is high speed minus 2.7% and general pay plus 5.4%. Highway sales have decreased due to an increase in the discount amount due to the spread of ETC. General paid Ken-O Road sales increased by opening the effect of. Passenger cars have increased by 0.6%. High speed is minus 0.1%, general pay is plus 3.6%.
The ETC discount amount is 14.8 billion yen, which is a 23% discount compared to the fee income without the ETC discount. As a result, income was 49,452 million yen.

The status of construction will be opened by Shin-Meishin Expressway 23rd of next month. Later, this has already been announced, but we have the documentation available.

Regarding the contract rate of contracts for major works, in December there were 8 contracts for major works, and the average successful bid rate was 85.87%.

Next is the situation of ETC. In terms of months, the average daily usage rate was 73.1%, an increase of about 6 points compared to the same month last year. If you look at the flash report from January 11th to 17th, the usage rate is 74.6%. Weekdays are 77.2%, holidays are 70.3%, and the trend of low holiday utilization remains the same, but this also exceeded 70%, so gradually, the utilization rate improved. It is a situation that is progressing.

SA sales increased 6.6% year-on-year. The breakdown is +1.2% for the food and drink sector, +4.2% for the product sales department, 8.8% for the service department, and 17.1% for the gasoline department. The above is the current status of the business.

Next, I will explain the topics in order. First, although earlier was also touched a little, Shin-Meishin Expressway is the opening ceremony of. I distributed the materials announced on the 16th as is, but from 10:00 on February 23rd. We would appreciate it if you could come to many people, so please contact us in advance. There are various points on the day written in the materials, so I hope you can refer to them, and if you have any questions, I would like to inform the public relations.

Next, we have implemented a half-price discount for TDM and congestion relief on New Year's Day, and we will report the results. The breaking news was announced on January 7, but today, Mr. Komuro will explain the details of the contents.

(Komuro)

My name is Komuro and I am in charge of the maintenance and service business. Thank you. I would like to briefly report on the half-price discount for the New Year, which the chairman just mentioned, and the results of the Park & Bus Slide in Ise, although it is not in the title.
Please refer to the materials at hand. The image of TDM and traffic demand management that we did this time is the figure in the middle of page 1. The red line is hourly traffic, and by discounting tolls during the relatively low traffic and free early morning hours, customers who use the busy time in the morning will be able to change the time to early in the morning, and by giving a discount on the late night as well, the discount will be made with the aim of having customers change the use of the busy time zone in the afternoon.
There are three discount places as shown at the bottom of page 1, traffic jam near Yamato TN in Tomei In-bound, traffic jam near Kobutsu TN in Chuo ExpresswayIn-bound , Traffic jam near the Yokkaichi IC of Tomeihan In-bound. With this in mind, the duration, time, and target IC are shown in the table below.
Please see the figure of the target toll booth on page 2.
From page 3 is a summary of the results. First, page 3 is Tomei Expressway results. Take a look at the bar chart in the middle. The red bar is last year's achievement, and the blue bar graph is this year's achievement. The traffic volume at the top is up 3.1% compared to last year, and the second graph is the traffic volume during the discount time, but this is an increase of 7.0%, so the percentage of increase is larger than the overall traffic volume, so you can see that customers have changed the time zone with discounts. Unfortunately, however, there were accidents, etc., and the amount of traffic jams increased as shown in the third and fourth graphs.
So, I would like you to look at the graph below, but if you do not perform toll TDM, how much traffic congestion will occur is estimated in the graph below, the red bar is the estimate value if TDM is not performed, and the blue bar is this year's result. As you can see, the amount of traffic congestion and the length of traffic jams are estimated to be about 30% or 20%, respectively, and this has reduced traffic congestion.
Page 4 is Chuo Expressway. The trend is the same as Tomei, with more traffic than last year, and traffic congestion is also increasing. However, as before, in the graph below, if we extrapolate the effect of traffic congestion if we did not do so, we estimate that traffic congestion has been reduced by about 10% due to this measure.
On page 5, there is the result of Tomeihan, but like Chuo Expressway, the traffic volume increased and the amount of traffic congestion also increased. In addition, if we make an estimate in the case where the toll TDM is not performed, it is estimated that traffic congestion has been reduced by about 4 to 5% as shown in the graph below.
In the future, based on the pattern of customer use, we will continue to actively conduct TDM while conducting PR activities.
Finally, on page 6, I add it as a reference, which is the Park & Bus Slide of Ise-do. This was done in cooperation with the local Ise Regional Tourism Traffic Measures Council and the Mie Prefectural Police Highway Squad in order to have people who come by car change to a shuttle bus and have them visit by shuttle bus if they come by car on New Year's Day, because it becomes very crowded and traffic jams occur on the Ise Road.
Take a look at the map in the middle. Normally, when you come from the Nagoya direction, you will Out-bound with Ise Nishi IC or Ise IC to visit us, but during the New Year, we will regulate the cars that Out-bound there, We took the method of having them come by car to the parking lot of the shuttle bus from Sun Arena IC on the right side of the figure, and then change to a bus and visit us.
The result is the bar chart below. As indicated since FY2002, there are four sticks in each fiscal year, but please consider that this is the length of traffic jams of 1, 2, 3, and 4 days.
In FY2002, because this measure was not implemented, a traffic jam of about 10 km occurred every day, but since 2003, there was almost no traffic jam on the 3rd day, and there was no bus slide on the 4th, so there was a slight traffic jam every year, and the traffic jam was increasing year by year, so in FY2007 we decided to incorporate this measure until the 6th, There was almost no traffic jam.
That's all there is to it.

(Chairman)

As for the next topic, we are starting the smart IC social experiment of Kuragaike PA. This has already been announced by Kuragaike PA Smart IC Social Experiment Council and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on the 26th of last month, but the social experiment will start from 10:00 on February 16th. By the way, the smart IC social experiments currently being carried out in the jurisdiction of Central Japan are Nanjo SA and Hirugano Kogen SA, as shown in the document. For the overall situation, please refer to the list chart. In addition, we have prepared a flyer to facilitate the start of this social experiment.

Next is the "Get Refueled! Gift of Shopping Ticket" campaign. We are handing out leaflets, but for the 77 days from January 22 to April 6, the day before yesterday, we have started a sales promotion campaign at 49 gas stations under the jurisdiction of Central Japan Exis in NEXCO Central Japan ..
The Expressway sales promotion targeting only gas stations is the first attempt after privatization, and we are aiming to give back to customers because of the recent rise in gasoline prices.
This measure is also a great deal for professional drivers other than family members and those who use Expressway for sales, so please use it when using Expressway. I would like you to do it. Also, there is a "high speed full tank" on the back, which is a short service for one week only in late March, but if you fill it at a high speed, you can shop for 200 yen for 20 liters or more Since it is a ticket, it means that it is 10 yen cheaper per liter.
For more details, please see this leaflet and EXIS website. If you put "High speed and full" on the homepage, you can search immediately.

Last but not least, this is a new announcement today. This is a drive travel product commemorating the opening of the Shin-Meishin Expressway. I announced that I opened the travel business. When I asked "Is there a concrete plan," I said, "I'm considering it."
In commemoration of the opening of the Shin-Meishin Expressway on February 23, we will jointly plan as the first trip business trip of USJ and will be announced today. From February 23rd to April 6th, this is a set plan of 3 USJ official hotels and a studio pass in Osaka. If you receive this studio pass in advance at Tsuchiyama SA, it will save you time.
The second page of the document is the official hotel, studio pass and plans with fun. We are planning as a travel agency and are trying to work with Kinki Nippon Tourist.

That's all for today's announcements and reports.

(Moderator)

Then, thank you if you have any questions.

(Reporter)

Please tell us about the effects of the Shin-Meishin Expwy will open on February 23 and what you can expect.

(Chairman)

I think that it plays a very important role as an alternative route to the current Meishin. I think that there are great expectations especially during the snow and ice season. Even so, the distance and time required will be shortened, so I expect that the number of cars heading east and west through the south side of Nagoya will increase considerably. I think it will play a major role in many ways, whether it is for industry, tourism, or a road for daily life. We often use the term “network” in road construction and operation, but we appreciate that one big network is created here. We hope that many people will use it and we will try to provide a good service.

(Reporter)

Also Shin-Meishin Expressway but is about, that it was opened ahead of schedule, construction capacity at the site level, or would, for example, the drilling technology was not such a thing, such as rose.

(Chairman)

I will talk about the technical details later, but it is a route that reflects new innovations everywhere, such as using new construction methods. Since this open passage line is being carried out not only by our company but also by West Japan, we are working hard even on West Japan, and we have reached the point where we will open it on February 23 at the same time.

(Moderator)

On the one hand, in terms of land acquisition, I was able to get the understanding of the landowners smoothly, and I heard that it was possible to shorten the process more than originally planned, especially in the jurisdiction of western Japan. ..

(Chairman)

It is the same on all roads, but it is only realized with the cooperation of not only landowners but also local people, local governments, various support groups, and local residents. In the case of highways, we strongly appreciate that and thank you for your cooperation.

(Reporter)

You mentioned the cooperation from the local community, but what kind of specific cooperation did you receive?

(Chairman)

In the first place, starting with the treatment of the land, we will build a road while consulting each time at design consultation etc. In that respect, I think that you have a very deep understanding.

(Reporter)

For example, if there is a Expressway there may be noise, and so on.

(Chairman)

I agree. In order to clear all environmental issues, noise, and various other issues, it is of utmost importance to have a thorough discussion, and ultimately it is necessary to get your understanding and support. Therefore, it is not possible to realize just by thinking from the standpoint of construction, so we proceeded with conclusions including such details. I can say that in general.

(Moderator)

I will explain construction technology again later. Do you have any other questions?

(Reporter)

I would like to ask about travel products. Why did you choose USJ as the memorable first issue? What have you not been able to do in this plan? And you are working with Kinki Nippon Tourist, but please tell us about 3 points that you could not do all this by yourself.

(Chairman)

Why it took up the Universal Studios Japan, is about, but also Shin-Meishin Expressway there is the fact that the opening of the, had to consider the fact that whether or not there something to match it. As a result, we started talking about whether USJ in Osaka might be good, and the ideas of each other came true. From now on, new routes will be completed in various places, and we would like to proceed with various plans including existing routes, but we are still using it for sales channels, payment systems, or to embody products. We haven't had any solid know-how or experience as we are just starting out in terms of detailed procedures such as purchasing, so we did the planning by us, but in terms of execution we still need the cooperation of a leading travel agency. There is a situation. Kinki Nippon Tourist has worked together in various ways so far, so I would like to continue to be a good partner in the future, but I think that other travel companies have the potential to build partnerships in the future. ..
Second, we have a license for the second type of travel business. This makes it possible to plan and recruit domestic group travel. Therefore, we proceeded while consulting with an experienced partner. Therefore, I hope that I will gradually gain experience and will be able to do it myself, but since service to customers is important, I will have the experienced parts supplement the missing parts. I want to improve my strength.

(Reporter)

This drive travel product is a "plan of hotel and studio pass set", not a set of Expressway charges. Expressway What is the purpose of this project to be able to receive the studio pass in advance in the service area when the company is offered?

(Chairman)

Actually, it is difficult to set the toll with the toll system, and the toll on the Expressway is different from the rail and air fares, so it is impossible to wholesale the fares to the travel agency. Since we do not make such assumptions, it is difficult to make a package as a package. Therefore, I think that overall sales will increase considerably depending on the number of users, but in terms of our income, we will receive planning fee income from that.

(Reporter)

Regarding the Tokai-Hokuriku Expwy, please tell us about your current progress. Also, the other day's announcement is that it will be opened around July, but please tell us how long it will be opened in July if it is fixed.

(Chairman)

Overall, we are making good progress toward opening in July. The pavement has been completed, and the construction of facilities such as electricity and machinery has begun. It is not clear at this moment when it will be opened, but I think it will probably be announced in the spring. After all, the safety check takes the most time. Since it is a long tunnel of 10.7 km, I would like to perform various things such as safety checks and disaster prevention drills to thoroughly verify whether the system works properly. There are times when you are planning a considerable amount of time for that. I think that people with hardware will have a certain amount of meditation, including facilities such as machinery, by around spring, but at that time I hope that I can talk about "when can I open it?" I will. I can't say a little yet, so that's not enough as an answer, but I'd like to talk about it when it becomes clear.

(Reporter)

Regarding travel products, is there a similar product in eastern Japan or western Japan?

(Chairman)

It is unique to Central Japan. Both website and telephone reservation are unique to us.

(Reporter)

Is there any voice that East Japan or West Japan can imitate your company's efforts or want to do the same?

(Chairman)

We haven't gone that far for this time. In terms of travel business, I think we are the only ones who have a license. We always want to make the necessary alliances for the convenience of our customers, but this time it is our own project.

(Reporter)

Since the turn of the year, the economic environment has changed significantly due to falling stock prices, the appreciation of the yen, and the US economic downturn. What are your views on the outlook for business conditions in Japan and the Chubu region?

(Chairman)

It seems that the cloudy sky is suddenly expanding, but I think that the fundamentals of the economy have not declined, so I think that there will be some adjustment period, but in terms of the year, it will recover sufficiently. I'm thinking about it. After all, we are very worried about the international situation, especially in the Chubu region where the industrial base of manufacturing is well developed, and there is considerable support for export, so in that sense we are like the United States and China. I think that it has the power to influence the trends in the economy as a whole, regardless of what the current economic situation is. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing that it will change as I said at the beginning.

(Reporter)

For the time being, is your business affecting your business, or is there something like that?

(Chairman)

That's not true. However, if the driver refrains from driving, or if the distribution slows down, it will immediately affect our income, so in reality it feels very close to the global economic situation. I think that reaction may come out relatively early, but for the time being, as I explained in the previous material, the number of passing vehicles is increasing compared to the previous year even in the results in December, I don't think we're in a worrying situation yet. I would like to carefully judge the numbers around this to judge the situation.

(Moderator)

Mr. Tomoike, the team in charge, explains that the construction period was shortened in terms of construction method due to the relationship with Shin-Meishin Expressway, which I asked you earlier.

(Tomoike L)

My name is Tomoike, the construction team leader.
Shin-Meishin Expressway Shinmeijin, in addition to the cooperation of the site, there is also a construction bridge that uses TBM in the tunnels that cross the prefectural border called Suzuka Tunnel and there is a high bridge called Tatsumi Taki, but the piers are high. The situation is that we were able to shorten the construction period by using a new new technology called the hybrid construction method.

(Moderator)

Do you have any other questions?

(Reporter)

But is a supplement to the previous question, Shin-Meishin Expressway in the planning of the drive trip, but is that there is a medium or high speed Japan has been responsible for the planning, Kinki Nippon Tourist is that has been in charge of purchasing of hotel selection and path Or? Please tell the division of the two in more detail.

(Director Tanaka)

I am Tanaka in charge of business development.
Of this project is Shin-Meishin Expressway that the opening of, had a contact with the USJ from before. 60% of customers are visitors in the automobile, the fact that 20 percent of them are coming from the central sphere, first of all, new Shin-Meishin Expressway hotel thinking planning that will Itadako went to USJ using, incidental, sale I made a product by sharing the plan with Kinki Nippon Tourist, who had been working together for some time.
Specifically, the production was done at Central Japan High Speed, and we asked Kinki Nippon Tourist to sell it.

(Reporter)

60% of our customers are automobiles, and 20% of them are from the central region. How far is the "central region"?

(Director Tanaka)

Chubu 3 prefectures, Toyama prefecture, Ishikawa prefecture, Shizuoka prefecture.

(Moderator)

If you have no other questions, we will end the 27th regular press conference.
Thank you for being busy today.

(Chairman)

Thank you very much.