ÆON Co., Ltd. announced a new Medium-Term Management Plan starting from fiscal 2011. The direction outlined in the plan calls for a consolidating of functions in the ÆON Group’s developer business around ÆON MALL.

As the core company responsible for the Group’s developer business, we intend to take full advantage of the Group’s management resources to accelerate the pace of openings, develop new sites for malls, and promote our property management business, while further expanding our domestic operations. In tandem, we will forge ahead with our program of shopping center renovations and groom new sources of revenue, such as advertising at the Group’s 100-plus malls. Through such policies we intend to expand our business base in Japan while, at the same time, embarking on measures to develop our shopping mall business in China and ASEAN markets, and become the best known developer of shopping centers across Asia. Taking these initiatives into account, our new three-year Medium-Term Management Plan, starting in fiscal 2011, targets an annual growth rate of 9% in the final year of the plan, the year ending February 20, 2014.

In order to improve the value of our malls we are aggressively pursuing both the development of new shopping malls and the renovation of existing malls. We believe that the concept of the shopping mall evolves, and we are working to reflect our perception of what the next generation of shopping malls should offer into new mall developments and renovation plans for existing malls, thereby creating an “All New ÆON MALL.”

The Group’s shopping mall business performed well in fiscal 2010 on the back of renovations to 12 malls and synchronized sales across the 23,000 general merchandise stores and specialty stores at our malls. By expediting the restructuring of our organization to integrate all functions of the developer business, including development and leasing, we intend to take full advantage of the scale of the ÆON Group’s 100 malls when pursuing similar coordinated sales and projects in our mall media business. With this in mind, we intend to double the number of mall openings from fiscal 2013 onwards. The scale of the Group’s mall network has benefits from the point of view of leasing also. For example, a tenant opening a store in our malls or the first time is spoilt for choice with over 100 malls in 100 different markets. This increases the appeal of our malls to prospective tenants and by extension allows us to select a more attractive tenant mix. We also expect this integration of functions to yield synergies for the whole Group for scrap and build projects and existing mall renovations.

ÆON MALL cannot hope to achieve the sustainable growth we seek without the vital support of our shareholders and range of other stakeholders, including members of the community and tenant companies. To meet your expectations for the Company, we are determined to strive to attain ever greater growth.