Hiroshi Kimura
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined the Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation in April 1976. He advanced to general manager of corporate planning in January 1999 and Director that June, and in June 2005 took charge of finance as Director and Executive Officer. A career employee, he worked in head-office planning and finance from the public corporation era onward. When he was put in charge of finance, total domestic tobacco demand had begun to decline from its peak of 348.3 billion cigarettes in fiscal 1996.
Selection
At the end of the previous year a tobacco tax hike had been decided in the midst of booming results, throwing cold water on record profits. Despite its monopoly at home, the company's share was falling, and critics pointed to lagging internal reform, saying a public-corporation mindset persisted even after major restructuring. The appointment appears to have entrusted expansion in scale to someone who had overseen finance.
Initiatives
In April 2007 the company acquired the issued shares of Gallaher Group Plc of the U.K. In the FY ended March 2008, with Gallaher consolidated, consolidated net sales were ¥6,409.7 billion, up from ¥4,769.3 billion the previous year. In January 2008 it acquired Katokichi shares through a tender offer. In Japan it closed plants in Kanazawa in March 2009, Morioka and Yonago in March 2010, and Odawara in March 2011, and in 2009 overseas tobacco sales surpassed domestic sales.
Career
Career
Japan Monopoly Corporation
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1976 | Joined |
| Jan 1999 | General Manager, Corporate Planning Department |
| Jun 1999 | Director |
| Jun 2005 | Director, Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer |
| Jun 2006 | Managing Executive Officer |
| Jun 2006 | Representative Director, President |
| Jun 2011 | Representative Director, Executive Vice President |
| Mar 2013 | Chairman |
| Jun 2012 | Stepped down as President |