The global economic downturn and turmoil in financial markets created a challenging operating environment for construction firms in Japan. Global volatility in construction material prices and fluctuating exchange rates also affected Japanese contractors during fiscal 2008. Moreover, factors such as the sharp decrease in domestic demand for construction through the fiscal year, especially near the end, made the operating environment for construction companies even more difficult. Given these conditions, we deployed our unique strengths — our technological, proposal and comprehensive capabilities — in responding to the challenging operating environment by working to improve profitability in our core domestic construction business.