ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has received a Best IR Award from the Japan Investor Relations Association at its Seventeenth Annual IR Grand Prix Awards (2012). This marks ITOCHU’s receipt of an award for the second consecutive year, as it also received an IR Special Award last year.

The awards, which were presented for the seventeenth year, are designed to recognize companies that fully understand the purpose of investor relations, take active initiatives, obtain strong support from the market participants, and achieve other significant performance. Among the member companies of the Japan Investor Relations Association, those companies whose shares are listed on the exchange are eligible for the awards. 294 companies applied for the 2012 awards, with one company selected for the IR Grand Prix Award, six for the Best IR Award, four for the IR Special Award, one for the Best IR Award for Small to Medium Sized Capitalization Companies, and one for the IR Special Award for Small to Medium Sized Capitalization Companies.

ITOCHU received the award for its initiatives, including the presentation of its strategies and medium-term management plan directly by the top manager, the holding of facility visit events and presentation sessions by each business sector that correspond precisely with investors’ interests, and the enhancement of the quality of its annual reports and explanation documents. ITOCHU believes that it received the award as a result of its company-wide initiatives concerning investor relations activities and its continued efforts to improve investor relations, which were highly appreciated.

ITOCHU will continue to implement company-wide initiatives to promote its investor relations activities, and will strive to further improve the disclosure of information and other materials to all stakeholders.

Reference: website of the Japan Investor Relations Association

https://www.jira.or.jp/