Kenji Miyahara
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Sumitomo Corporation in 1958. He served as deputy head of the Steel Trade Division and President of Sumitomo Corporation of America, building his career in steel trade and running the U.S. base. After serving as Senior Managing Director and Executive Vice President, he became President in 1995. His predecessor Tomiichi Akiyama had been General Manager of Steel Products Trade and his successor Motoyuki Oka General Manager of Steel Tubular Products Trade No. 1, making three straight Presidents from steel trade.
Selection
In 1995 he succeeded Tomiichi Akiyama as President. Consolidated revenue had shrunk from ¥18,027.0 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1993 to ¥16,139.5 billion in the FY ended March 1995, and net income had fallen from ¥20.5 billion to ¥7.3 billion. In January 1995, just before he took office, the company had established Jupiter Telecommunications in Tokyo to oversee cable television operations.
Initiatives
In June 1996 the company disclosed that Yasuo Hamanaka, head of the nonferrous metals department, had carried out off-the-books trading on the London Metal Exchange for about ten years from 1987, incurring huge losses. The trading relied on personal relationships with counterparties and had continued without the company's knowledge. Losses initially estimated at ¥190.0 billion grew as investigations progressed, and in the fiscal year ended March 1997 the company booked an extraordinary loss of ¥285.2 billion in one go, posting a net loss of ¥145.6 billion. In April 2001 it abolished the designations of Osaka head office and Tokyo head office and reorganized into a single head office of six corporate groups and nine business units with 28 divisions.
Career
Career
Sumitomo Corporation
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1995 | President |
| Jun 2001 | Stepped down as President |