ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that ITOCHU won the Best IR Award and the “Most Liked!” IR Award at the 2024 IR Award from the Japan Investor Relations Association (hereinafter “JIRA”). ITOCHU has been awarded the Best IR Award for the first time in 12 years since 2012, and the "Most Liked!” IR Award for the first time ever.

The IR Award is designed to recognize companies which have been highly accredited in the investment community for their understanding and promotion of IR activities. This year marks the 29th year since the first IR Award. Of the JIRA member companies, 355 publicly-listed companies applied for the 2024 IR Award. The IR Grand Prix was given to two companies, the Best IR Awards to six, the IR Special Awards to two, and the Best IR Awards for Encouragement to two.

The reasons for the award are as follows:
・ITOCHU’s top management is strongly aware of the market perspective and is involved in IR activities.
・Management issues are shared with investors and the company’s strategies, which have been formulated based on the changing external environment, show a proactive stance.
・The IR department carries out the preparation of its renowned integrated report, business briefings that capture the interests of investors, and the preparation of various IR materials in a balanced manner. Other highly-evaluated points include the company's willingness to further improve its well-developed activities, its close cooperation with top management, and its ability to gather information from business divisions.
・Efforts to link ESG to business value are also attracting attention.

The objectives of “Most Liked!” IR Award are the proactive sharing of IR activities and the realization of best practices. The selection for this award includes the voting by the applied companies. Regarding our award, the discontinuation of the mid-term management plan based on dialogue with investors has garnered significant empathy from various companies.

We believe that these awards are the results of the commitment and continuous improvement in IR activities led by our top management and involving the entire company. ITOCHU remains committed to engaging in meaningful dialogue with our stakeholders and ensuring timely, transparent information disclosure, as we sincerely pursue IR activities aiming at sustainable corporate value enhancement.

(Japanese text only)
https://www.jira.or.jp/activity/bluechip.html