Nintendo 78th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders – Approval rates, Q&A now available
Nintendo 78th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders – Approval rates
Last month, the Nintendo 78th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders was held. During this meeting, shareholders had to vote on various proposals, which were all accepted. And a few days ago, Nintendo finally shared the full results of the vote, allowing us to get the approval rate of the various Directors elected and re-elected.
First, Proposal No. 1 (Distribution of Surplus [note: how the money made during the previous Fiscal Year will be used) was approved with 98% of votes.
Second, the approval rate for the various Directors:
- Shigeru Miyamoto (Director / Representative Director / Fellow): re-election
- For: 936 952
- Against: 7 776
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 97.37% (-0.22 compared to last year)
- Shinya Takahashi (Director / General Manager, Entertainment Planning & Development Division / Supervisor of Business Development Division, Development Administration & Support Division / Managing Executive Officer): re-election
- For: 936 132
- Against: 8 591
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approvate rate: 97.28% (-0.37 compared to last year)
- Shuntaro Furukawa (General Manager, Corporate Planning Department / Director / Managing Executive Officer / Supervisor of Corporate Analysis & Administration Division / In charge of Global Marketing Department): re-election
- For: 928 648
- Against: 16 074
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 96.51% (-1.14% compared to last year)
- Ko Shiota (General Manager, Platform Technology Development Division / Director / Senior Executive Officer): re-election
- For: 936 122
- Against: 8 601
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 97.28% (-0.37% compared to last year)
- Satoru Shibata (President of Nintendo of Europe GmbH, Executive Officer, Outside Director of The Pokémon Company): election
- For: 936 121
- Against: 8 602
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 97.28% (-0.37% compared to last year)
- Naoki Noguchi (Director (Full-Time Audit and Supervisory Committee Member)): re-election
- For: 890 223
- Against: 54 492
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 92.51%
- Naoki Mizutani (Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of the Company): re-election as Outside Director Independent Officer
- For: 921 278
- Against: 23 443
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 95.74%
- Katsuhiro Umeyama (Representative Partner, Umeyama Certified Tax Accountant LLC / Outside Director (Audit and Supervisory
Committee Member), KURAUDIA HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. / Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of the Company): re-election as Outside Director Independent Officer- For: 938 865
- Against: 5 856
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 97.57%
- Masao Yamazaki (Director, Masao Yamazaki Certified Tax Accountant Office): election as Outside Director Independent Officer
- For: 940 943
- Against: 3 780
- Abstention: 2 978
- Approval rate: 97.78%
As you can see for yourself, all Directors were either elected or re-elected without a hitch. Shuntaro Furukawa saw its approval rate drop noticeably this year, but that’s no wonder: he was to become President of the company, which is a much more important role than the one he had until now (he’s basically the big boss now), so it stands to reason some shareholders would not see him fit for it (though the vast majority did).
Also, the number of shareholders who voted this year is much higher than last year: again, it’s no surprise since a new President was chosen to replace Tatsumi Kimishima.
Source: Nintendo
Nintendo 78th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders – Q&A
The full official translation of the transcript of the Q&A session is now available: click here to check it out!
Here’s the various questions that were asked (and answered) during this Q&A session:
- Question 1: I hope we can expect continuous and long-term growth, operational stability and maximized profitability from Nintendo under the leadership of the next management team. Although it appears as though Nintendo is expanding its business with a lot of loose connections with other companies, it would be an option for Nintendo to move toward the goal of becoming a sort of entertainment conglomerate in the future. Could you explain your thinking with regards to the diversification of the business?
- Question 2: Do you have any plans for counteracting the sudden fall in share price? When share prices dropped in the past, Nintendo did not do anything in particular to address it. I would like to hear your thoughts on if Nintendo will continue this trend in light of the current decline in its share price.
- Question 3: You set a goal of selling 20 million hardware units and 100 million software units for Nintendo Switch for the fiscal year ending in March 2019. How does the current situation compare to your estimates? Additionally, one reason given for the recent drop in share price is the report that Nintendo Labo has been selling poorly. Could you share your thoughts on this?
- Question 4: Crossplay with other platforms on the Nintendo Switch versions of games such as Fortnite and Minecraft has been a point of appeal. Could you talk about the relationships between Nintendo and other publishers, and your initiatives for multi-platform titles?
- Question 5: The semiconductor market has been very active lately, leading to outcries from other industries over component shortages and price increases. Things have calmed down a bit compared to the period between last year and the end of the year before that, but it seems like supplies of flash memory and passive components will still be fairly tight. I would like to hear what you think about the effects this will have on Nintendo Switch production and packaged software, as well as about how these prices will affect sales, and what you will do to counteract it.
- Question 6: Do you foresee a synergy between Nintendo attractions under development in Universal Studios Japan with any products you have out for sale now? I am fearful that visitors might be satisfied with these attractions alone, and so sales of Nintendo products might fall, so I am curious what kind of outlook you have based your decisions on.
- Question 7: Indie games have become a hot topic recently. As games made by small-scale developers around the world with relatively low development costs, how will Nintendo integrate these kinds of games into its future business strategy?
- Question 8: Regarding Nintendo Switch Online being a paid service. There are still only a few titles for Nintendo Switch that are primarily played online. I assume that online play becoming a paid service will have an adverse effect on the number of users in games like Splatoon 2, so could you explain the factors that went into your decision to monetize online features?
- Question 9: I would like to ask about your methods for increasing revenue in the smart-device business. I believe you mentioned at last year’s general shareholders meeting that Fire Emblem Heroes did more to increase revenue than Super Mario Run did. Will applications released from now on likewise make use of “gacha”? What are your thoughts, ethically and morally, on making “gacha” a pillar of revenue?
- Question 10: What are your thoughts on the sale of Nintendo Switch in the Chinese market? China is considered a large and extremely important market, so could you share your future outlook?
- Question 11: Music from the Kirby game, Kirby: Planet Robobot, was recently released on iTunes. Are you planning to release any other soundtracks that are currently difficult to find and therefore carry a premium price? While the creation of new things is obviously important, I would also like to see you make better use of your IP and develop a business using some of your past work, including game music. Personally, I am looking forward to a Kirby animated series.
- Question 12: Management viewed E3 very favorably, but the share price fell by approximately 5,000 yen during two of those days. All of the key titles for this fiscal year are going to be released from the fall through the holiday season, so I am wondering if it is not possible to release attractive software continuously?
- Question 13: For several years, there has been a company operating public road go-karts in Tokyo, which has damaged the image of Mario as they raced around the streets. We heard that Nintendo sued the company and lost the first trial. Is this true?
- Question 14: How are you planning to spread awareness about Nintendo Switch Online becoming a paid-service? Will you do something using existing titles? Or do you have something planned in Nintendo Switch Online itself? Please explain to whatever extent you are able to share.
Source: Nintendo
