Canon | CSR Activities | Prompt and Appropriate Information Disclosure

Dialogue with Shareholders and Investors

Prompt and Appropriate Information Disclosure

As of December 31, 2011, Canon Inc. was listed on the Tokyo, New York, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo exchanges, with approximately 1,334 million outstanding shares and some 190,000 shareholders.
With an eye to disclosing information on its management strategy, business strategy and performance to shareholders, investors and securities analysts in an accurate, fair and timely manner, Canon Inc. holds regular briefings and other IR events, and posts the latest information and various types of disclosure materials, including audio and video information, on its website.
To ensure fair and prompt information disclosure, Canon created Disclosure Guidelines for capital markets, which detail appropriate disclosure standards, procedures and methods. In April 2005, the Company formed a Disclosure Committee to ensure strict compliance with the disclosure rules laid down by stock exchanges, thereby implementing a framework for comprehensive and accurate disclosure.
Through these efforts, Canon endeavors to gain the trust of the capital markets and enable proper assessment of its corporate value and stock price.
We also hold quarterly meetings to relay concerns from institutional investors and securities analysts about the Company's quarterly financial results and forecasts to products operations and the accounting division. Furthermore, we distribute a monthly IR bulletin to executive officers of Canon Inc. and the presidents of major Group companies presenting opinions expressed by shareholders and investors, helping us improve management and business operations throughout the Group.

Main IR Activities

Main Events

Corporate strategy conference hosted by a representative director for institutional investors and analysts (annually, about 100 participants)
Financial results conference for institutional investors and analysts (quarterly, about 170 participants)
Financial results conference calls for institutional investors outside Japan (quarterly)
Individual visits to institutional investors in Japan to discuss financial results (quarterly)
Business conferences for institutional investors and analysts (ad hoc)
Small meetings of investors hosted by securities companies (ad hoc)
Visits to institutional investors outside Japan to discuss management policy (North America, Europe)
Company briefings for salespersons at securities companies (ad hoc)
Company briefings for individual investors (ad hoc)

Daily Activities

Responding to inquiries and requests for information from institutional investors and analysts (more than 500 a year)
Responding to phone inquiries
Responding to surveys inquiring about Canon's socially responsible investment (SRI)

Promoting Dialogue with Individual Investors

Canon Inc. has adopted various measures to encourage broader participation in the Company by individual investors.
We also hold conferences for individual investors with the aim of boosting the individual investor quotient of Canon's long-term shareholders. We held such a conference in September 2011 in Tokyo, with approximately 400 individual investors in attendance.
These activities provide an understanding of individual investor perspectives, and feedback about them is sent to management.
Canon also has created an individual investor portal site on its company website, which makes it easier to access such corporate information as overviews of business operations, financial data, descriptions of new technologies, and outlines of environmental initiatives.
The number of individual shareholders as of December 31, 2011, was approximately 187,000, up approximately 9,000 from the previous year.

Improved Content for Individual Investors

In addition to holding IR events and responding to investor inquiries, we recognize the need to provide appropriate information disclosure through active use of our website to enable shareholders and investors to better understand such issues as our management policy and strategy.
We conducted a comprehensive renewal of our investor relations website in 2010, taking the perspective of our shareholders and investors in seeking to make the information on the site more reliable and easier to understand.
The renewal concentrated on organizing information and improving navigation to make it easier for investors to access the information they care about, such as management policy and investor briefings. We also enhanced the content for a better understanding of our company and also to respond to the questions of individual investors.
As a result, our placement in the Nikko Investor Relations 2011 Homepage Rankings rose to 13^th, and we were awarded the Internet IR Best Company Award from Daiwa Investor Relations.

Our "Investor Information: For Individual Investors" Web page

Dialogue with Investors outside Japan

The percentage of Canon Inc. shares owned by non-Japanese investors is high, at 39.0% as of December 31, 2011.
Canon Inc. maintains ongoing close communication with institutional investors around the world. In addition to holding conference calls to explain financial results and traveling abroad to discuss management policy with institutional investors outside Japan, we have IR bases in Europe and the United States. In August 2011, Canon representatives made a trip to Europe and the United States to discuss management policy with institutional investors outside Japan. The IR information posted on the Canon English-language website contains the same level of detail as that posted on our Japanese-language website, ensuring that our information disclosure system functions at the same level in both languages.

Return to Shareholders

Dividend Policy

Maintaining a High Dividend to Reflect Improved Financial Condition

Canon Inc.'s basic policy is to provide stable returns and actively return profits to shareholders, mainly in the form of a dividend.
Despite a difficult management environment marked by a historic rise in the yen, the Great East Japan Earthquake and floods in Thailand, we closed out 2011 with a rise in net profits. We also had ample cash on hand due to thorough cash flow management.
Taking the above into account, we maintained the previous year's dividend of ¥120 per share for the full year.

Annual Per-Share Dividend Trend
Annual Per-Share Dividend Trend

EPS and Dividends

Acquisition of Own Shares

Canon Inc. began acquiring its own shares in 2007. The company had acquired 110 million of its own shares in eight tranches by 2010, for a total of approximately ¥600 billion, to raise capital efficiency and allow for a flexible capital strategy for mergers and acquisitions.
In 2011, Canon acquired approximately 27 million own shares in two tranches, for a total of approximately ¥100 billion.
Our policy is to continue to implement measures as circumstances demand, taking into account investment and capital plans.

External Corporate Assessments

Credit Rating

Canon Inc. is rated by two agencies in the United States and one in Japan, with the credit rating being one external indicator subject to close scrutiny.
Canon continues to maintain a very high credit rating, once again receiving strong marks for maintaining and continuing to strengthen our financial condition in a severe economic climate marked by downgrades across the world.

Ratings by Key Agencies
Credit Rating Agencies	Long Term	Short Term
Standard & Poor's	AA	A-1＋
Moody's	Aa1	－
Rating and Investment Information	AA＋	－

(As of April 1, 2012)

Canon's Inclusion in Sustainability Investment Indexes

Canon Inc. has received high marks from SRI evaluation agencies worldwide for responding to their questionnaires and surveys and for disclosing CSR information through various reports. The Company is included in the indexes listed below.
In the future, we will strive to disclose CSR information in a more easily understandable manner in response to the needs of society.