Transition of Business Portfolio

We believe that our mission is to contribute to human society through business. While continuing to challenge change, our aim is to enhance our corporate value as an Environment and Energy Company group.

Transition of Business Portfolio
 
1907

Founded as spinning company for mass production of high-class cotton thread

Nisshin Cotton Spinning Co., Ltd. (present Nisshinbo Holdings Inc.) was founded by 76 sponsors, including prominent figures in financial circles, for the mass production of high-class cotton thread. The introduction at that time of state-of-the-art spinning machinery on a scale paralleling the largest companies in the industry signified that the new company intended to put up a head-on challenge to high-quality cotton thread from overseas.

 
 
1940s-1960s

Promotion of business diversification in response to postwar demand for daily living necessities

Amid the current of postwar reconstruction followed by high economic growth, business was expanded to non-textile segments, such as automobile brakes and chemicals. In 1960 non-textile segments accounted for more than 10% of total sales. The company cited the expansion and development of new businesses in non-textile segments and the nurturing of related businesses as its basic policy and accelerated business diversification in a full-fledged manner.

Share of Total Sales in
FY 1960
(by Individual Segment)

¥22.9
billion

1960s–1980s

Expansion of the automobile brakes business against the background of motorization

Riding the wave of motorization in Japan, the company rapidly expanded the automobile brakes business, and in 1988 sales of the automobile brakes business accounted for more than 10% of total sales. The company actively invested in other non-textile segments as well, such as the precision instruments business and chemicals business.

Share of Total Sales in
FY 1980
(by Individual Segment)

¥162.9
billion

1990s

Further business diversification and promotion of overseas operations in face of strong yen

The value of the yen continued to appreciate after the Plaza accord in 1985, causing a shift in the textile industry from exports to imports. Furthermore, this overlapped with a slump in demand for clothing due to the recession, which forced a business rebuilding.
Since our company had been actively promoting further business diversification and the development of new businesses, the overseas move of both textile and non-textile segments became lively. In 1990 the share of non-textile segments in total sales exceeded 50% for the first time.

Share of Total Sales in
FY 1990

¥269
billion

2000s

Emphasis on electronics in preparation for arrival of the information society

An age commenced in which every industry conducted business from a global perspective while keeping an eye on changes in society and the living environment. With the aim of enhancing corporate value, our company also accelerated the overseas shift of production sites. At the same time, realizing in view of the emerging information society that electronics(the present wireless and communications, microdevice) must become a strategic core business of the Group, we acquired New Japan Radio Co., Ltd.(the present Nisshinbo Micro Device Inc.) through a takeover bid in 2006. As a result, non-textile segments accounted for more than three-quarters of total sales in 2007.

Share of Total Sales in
FY 2000

¥233.5
billion

2010s

Promote aggressive business portfolio transformation

As a result of our acquisition of Japan Radio Co., Ltd., the Wireless comms business and Microdevice business came to account for approximately 40% of total sales in 2014. Electronics had truly become a core business of our Group. And following acquisition of the European firm TMD Friction Group S.A. through M&A in 2011, we grew into a top-class global supplier of friction materials in the automobile brakes business.
Since then we have been actively continuing the rearrangement of our business portfolio through the transfer of some businesses, such as paper products, and efforts to strengthen the Mobility business through M&As.

Share of Total Sales in
FY 2019

¥509.7
billion

2020-present

Electronics company in both name and reality

In the microdevice business, in order to evolve into an analog solution provider, New Japan Radio Co. Ltd. and Ricoh Electronic Devices Co., Ltd.(consolidated in 2018) will be merged into Nisshinbo Micro Devices Inc. in 2022. Furthermore, as a result of the business portfolio transformation, including the acquisition of Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. as a subsidiary in 2023 to solidify the earnings base of the solutions business in the wireless and communications business and to accelerate the growth strategy, the electronics business is expected to account for more than 60% of the total business from 2024 onward.
Meanwhile, the brake business is expanding its share as the top runner in the market for the copper free friction materials.

Share of Total Sales in
FY 2023

¥541.2
billion