Message from the President

　Thank you very much for your continued patronage of the Bank of Iwate.

　In Iwate Prefecture, the Bank of Iwate Group's main base of operations, we face longstanding issues such as population outflow due to social decline and a lack of successors at a relatively high level compared with the rest of the country. These issues are now compounded by other urgent problems such as continuously rising consumer prices and a shortage of workers. However, the prefecture's economy overall is on a growth trajectory. There are signs of companies passing on costs and raising wages, while the platform for growth is steadily expanding: the prefecture's central region is home to venture companies in the life sciences and other fields, the south features manufacturing industry, while the north has a regional energy industry, and by the coast we have container-based logistics.

　Under these circumstances, we took the first step toward achieving our long-term vision in 10 years' time by launching the 21st Medium-Term Management Plan, and in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 (FY2023), the first year of the plan, we surpassed all the plan's major numerical targets. This is evidence of our successful efforts during the previous medium-term management plan to reinforce our revenue structure by rebuilding our operational system and implementing cost structure reforms and to expand our business domains, primarily by extending our consulting and regional trading company capabilities. In another move during FY2023, we identified and announced measures to address our current PBR (price-to-book ratio) and its improvement as a starting point for implementing management that is conscious of cost of capital and stock price. We also took steps to improve our dialogue with shareholders and institutional investors, as well as individual investors, providing online briefings for individual investors and English translations of our earnings announcements for the first time.

　Recently, the Bank of Japan's termination of its negative interest rate policy has ushered in what it refers to as "a world where interest rates exist," increasing the importance of the financial intermediary function, which is the original core business at regional financial institutions. At the Bank of Iwate, we raised our interest rates on deposits in April 2024 for the first time in 17 years. We will continue to respond appropriately to changes in market conditions, coupling this financial business with the non-financial business we honed in Japan's previously interest-free environment as we work to solve our customers' issues, thereby delivering added value.

　As a company of value co-creation, the Bank of Iwate Group will continue working with people in the regional community to forge their future, maintaining a spirit of constant endeavor without fear of failure. We truly hope that we can count on your continued patronage.

Toru Iwayama
President