Kinya Seto
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Sumitomo Corporation in April 1983 and from May 1997 served as president of Iron Dynamics Process International LLC in the United States. In June 2001 he moved to Sumisho Grainger (now MonotaRO) as president, and became its Representative Executive Officer and Chairman in March 2012. From 2013 he was also a Senior Vice President of W.W. Grainger, Inc. in the United States and CEO of GWW UK Online Ltd. in Britain. He had never worked at LIXIL and was brought in from outside in January 2016.
Selection
In January 2016 he became Representative Executive Officer and COO of LIXIL, and that same month Representative Director, President and CEO, succeeding Yoshiaki Fujimori. In the fiscal year before he took over, ended March 2015, consolidated net sales were ¥1,673.4 billion and net income ¥22.0 billion, but in his first year, FY ended March 2016, the company swung to a net loss of ¥18.7 billion on sales of ¥1,845.1 billion. The appointment brought in an outsider who had run overseas businesses at a trading house and a mail-order company, in a year of losses.
Initiatives
In his first term the company recovered from a net loss of ¥18.7 billion in FY ended March 2016 to net income of ¥42.5 billion in FY ended March 2017 and ¥54.6 billion in FY ended March 2018. He stepped back to Representative Director and Chairman in June 2019, then returned as Chairman, President and CEO in April 2020. After his return, operating profit grew from ¥35.8 billion in FY ended March 2021 to ¥69.5 billion in FY ended March 2022, but fell to ¥16.4 billion with a net loss of ¥13.9 billion in FY ended March 2024; in FY ended March 2026 net sales were ¥1,510.7 billion and operating profit ¥28.4 billion.
Career
Career
Sumitomo Corporation
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1983 | Joined |
| May 1997 | U.S. and Iron Dynamics Process International LLC, Representative Director, President |
Sumisho Gurenja
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jun 2001 | Representative Director, President |
K-engine
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Aug 2011 | Representative Director, President |
MonotaRO
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Mar 2012 | Director, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman |
| Oct 2013 | U.S. and W.W. Grainger, Inc., Senior Vice President, in charge of Online Business |
| Dec 2013 | U.K. GWW UK Online Ltd.CEO |
| Mar 2014 | Chairman |
| Jan 2024 | Director |
| Mar 2024 | Honorary Advisor |
LIXIL
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jan 2016 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer and COO |
| Jan 2016 | Representative Director, President and CEO |
| Jun 2016 | Director, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, President and CEO |
| 2018 | Stepped down as President |
| Jun 2019 | Representative Director, Chairman |
| Apr 2020 | Representative Director, Chairman, President and CEO |
References 1
References (Japanese primary sources)
- LIXIL 有価証券報告書【役員の状況】