In an effort to make its shareholders meeting more open and easier for shareholders to attend, OMRON schedules meetings to avoid days on which the shareholders meetings of other large companies are concentrated. OMRON also uses a conveniently located hotel at the JR Kyoto station as a venue.

Also, OMRON has set up systems that allow shareholders to exercise their voting rights by post as well as an electronic voting system that enables exersise via personal computer or mobile device.

Since 2006, OMRON has offered access to the Electronic Voting Platform, creating an environment whereby institutional investors in Japan and overseas can quickly provide documents for the general meeting and smoothly exercise their voting rights.

After the close of the general meeting, as a separate presentation to explain management conditions is held as well as a shareholder roundtable conference. These events provide the opportunity to offer shareholders further information on OMRON's initiatives that could not be communicated during the general meeting.

The general meeting of shareholders in fiscal 2011 drew an audience of 662, which was 55 more than the previous year, fiscal 2010. The percentage of shareholders who exercised their voting rights in written form or electronically (via the Internet) prior to the meeting increased 1.1% from the previous fiscal year to 33%, leading to a voting ratio of 81.7%.

In fiscal 2012, the meeting attendance was the highest in OMRON’s history at 796, representing an increase of 134 from the previous fiscal year. The voting ratio was 84.3%, up 2.6% from the previous fiscal year.

With its investor relations policy emphasizing two-way interactive communication with current and potential investors, OMRON is working to provide timely and accurate information on the company's business conditions and management policies. OMRON also aims to reflect investors' comments on its management strategies to the extent possible toward the aim of maximizing corporate value.

To enhance communication with individual investors, OMRON actively participates in corporate presentations and investor fairs.

In fiscal 2011, OMRON participated in 24 investor relations events, communicating with some 2,500 investors.

For institutional investors, OMRON provided about 970 communication opportunities in fiscal 2011. These include the President’s tours to personally meet investors throughout the world, presentations of business results and financial standing, teleconference, and participation in investor relations conferences.

Input and feedback obtained through dialogues are relayed via the investor relations department to the President and the management team, and are used to help create various management strategies.

■Main investor relations activities conducted during fiscal 2011

• Quarterly meetings for presentation of business results and financial standing
• Teleconferences with investors in Japan, the U.S. and Europe at the time of financial results announcement
• Participation in investor relations conferences for institutional investors
• President visits to personally meet institutional investors in Japan and abroad
• Corporate presentations for individual investors
• Participation in investor fairs
• Factory tours and technology briefings for institutional investors

• Investor Relations

To support interactive communication with investors, OMRON also proactively provides information regarding the development and marketing of products tailored to local market characteristics, as well as financial results, using various media including IR websites. The IR websites also offer the President’s message, management strategies, and business results, as well as video presentations of OMRON’s business, technologies and history.

OMRON also invites institutional investors and analysts to take tours to observe OMRON’s Kusatsu factory in Shiga, Japan, and factories in Shanghai and Guangzhou in China. Presentations of OMRON technologies for blood pressure monitors and relays are also popular among investors.

OMRON’s Annual Report 2011 won the second-place prize in the Nikkei Annual Report Awards 2011 sponsored by Nikkei Inc. The inclusion of a background story for the appointment of the new president and the special feature article on OMRON’s long-term strategy, "Value Generation 2020 (VG2020)," helped OMRON earn positive recognition for its commitment to governance and its long-term strategies.