Hiroyuki Kitai
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
A career insider since joining, he rose from Senior Managing Director to president. As of the fiscal year ended March 2006, two years after he stepped down, trust banks dominated the top shareholders, and the only operating company, Matsushita Electric Industrial, ranked sixth with 2.65%. Following Noriyuki Inoue, a career insider held the presidency for a second consecutive term, cementing a selection approach detached from both the founding family and the Sumitomo group.
Selection
He succeeded Noriyuki Inoue as president in 2001. His predecessor, who had also been chairman, gave up the presidency and became Chairman and CEO from June 2002. In the fiscal year ended March 2001, the year before he took office, consolidated net sales were ¥531.9 billion and net income ¥19.9 billion, nearly double the ¥10.4 billion of the year before.
Initiatives
Carrying on the 1997 decision to keep producing residential air conditioners in Japan, the company returned them to profit through the high-cycle production system at the Shiga Plant and in fiscal 2003 took the top domestic share in residential air conditioners. The domestic commercial air conditioning market shrank for more than ten years, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi merged their commercial air conditioner businesses in 2004. The company kept its own sales network and domestic production and held its leading position in commercial units. Consolidated net sales grew from ¥531.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2001 to ¥625.7 billion in FY ended March 2004.
Career
Career
Daikin
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 2001 | President |
| Jun 2004 | Stepped down as President |