Soju Hayashida
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Soju Hayashida joined Yonex in March 1980, served as manager of the Osaka branch from July 1995 and became a Director in June 1997. He then held a series of domestic sales posts: head of sales for western Japan, head of sales for eastern Japan and of the large-store division from August 2006, and head of domestic sales from June 2007. He became Senior Managing Director and head of the Sales Division in June 2011 and Representative Director, Senior Managing Director and head of general management in June 2013. In the fiscal year ended March 2021 he held 32,000 shares, while Tsutomu Yoneyama, Representative Director and Chairman in the same year, held 2,549,000.
Selection
In June 2015 Soju Hayashida succeeded Tsutomu Yoneyama as Representative Director and President, and Yoneyama moved to Representative Director and Chairman in the same month. Whereas Yoneyama became a Director four years after joining, Hayashida took 17 years to go from joining to Director and 18 more years to go from Director to President. In the fiscal year ended March 2015, just before he took office, consolidated net sales were ¥47.6 billion and operating income ¥2.1 billion, up from ¥42.8 billion and ¥1.6 billion the previous year. The change of President was not a response to poor results.
Initiatives
After taking office he expanded production capacity, adding the second factory's Building B at the Tokyo plant in November 2015 and building the Nagaoka No. 2 plant in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, in April 2016. In May 2016 the company set up the production company YONEX INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED in India. In November 2018 it made stringing machine maker Toyo Zoki Co., Ltd. a subsidiary, and in December 2019 bought the remaining shares to make it wholly owned. Consolidated net sales grew from ¥54.2 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2016, his first year, to ¥74.5 billion in the FY ended March 2022, his last, and operating income from ¥3.3 billion to ¥6.7 billion.
Career
Career
Yonex
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Mar 1980 | Joined |
| Jul 1995 | General Manager, Osaka Branch |
| Jun 1997 | Director |
| Jul 1997 | Head of Western Japan Sales |
| Aug 2006 | 東日本営業総括、大型店事業部長 (translation pending) |
| Jun 2007 | Managing Director, Deputy General Manager of Headquarters, Sales Headquarters and Head of Domestic Sales |
| Jun 2011 | Senior Managing Director and General Manager, Sales Headquarters |
| Jun 2013 | Representative Director, Senior Managing Officer, Senior Managing Executive Officer and Head of Management |
| Jun 2015 | Representative Director, President and President, Executive Officer |
| Apr 2022 | Stepped down as President |
References 1
References (Japanese primary sources)
- ヨネックス 有価証券報告書【役員の状況】（2021年3月期）