Zeon Corporation
Cite as: Japan IR Index, Zeon Corporation (4205), methodology GNT-BDS v1.1.1, reviewed 2026-10-01.
Findings and sources as of the review date shown. The company’s English disclosure may have changed since.
Where to start
Chosen from this company's lowest answers, easiest first. A quick fix uses material the company already has; a translation fix is usually met by translating a Japanese document (our note says whether this company has one). Questions that need a budget or a board decision are left out. Suggestions drawn from the research, separate from the scores.
F6 Multi-year financial data file (Excel or CSV) downloadable in English 0/5 Quick fix
Post the financial figures the company already publishes as an Excel or CSV file with English labels.
G6 Shareholder vote results disclosed in English 0/5 Quick fix
Publish the vote counts from the Japanese extraordinary report in English.
O5 Single page listing all English IR documents by date and type 3/5 Quick fix
Keep one English page that lists every IR document with its date and type.
O7 Named English IR contact published 3/5 Quick fix
Link a dedicated IR contact (form, address or e-mail) from the English IR section.
English disclosure assessment
All 34 questions reviewed by the editor against the public documents; this is not an independent audit. 1 answer corrected after re-checks (research errors) on 23 Oct 2026. These are changes to our record, not to the company’s disclosure. Changes to this record →
Compared with peers
| Peer group | Median | This company |
|---|---|---|
| Same sector (Chemicals) | 82.8 | 13 of 18 |
| Same size band (¥500bn–2tn) | 84.2 | 34 of 43 |
Compared with the companies covered here, not the whole market. Sector is the TSE 33-sector classification; market cap is from the TSE English-disclosure survey, Aug 2026; it only sets the size band, plays no part in the score, and is refreshed once a quarter. Ties share the higher rank.
Out of 100.
Of the 34 questions reviewed, 30 scored 3 or more and 3 found no qualifying English materials within the stated review scope. Read each score with its source and scope below.
Findings by question
F1Quarterly and full-year results summaries (tanshin) published in English4/5
Consolidated Financial Report for Q1 of the year ending March 2027, in English: a "[Summary]" was posted 29 July 2026, the same day as the Japanese, and replaced at the same address by the full version (14 pages, every note the Japanese carries, including the segment and cash-flow notes) on 5 August. The earlier periods came the same way, the full English 2-6 weeks after the Japanese (H1 3 Dec against 30 Oct, Q3 13 Mar against 30 Jan, full year 29 May against 13 May). Every period, complete, but late: 4 (was 5; re-checked 14 Oct 2026). Source document →
F2English results summary is a full translation, not an excerpt5/5
English [Full Version] Consolidated Financial Results for the First Three Months of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2027 has 14 pages; the Japanese 2027年3月期 第1四半期決算短信 has 13. The English carries the summary pages with forecast and dividends, the qualitative section (operating results by segment, financial position, forecast explanation), the balance sheet, income and comprehensive-income statements, and every note the Japanese table of contents lists: quarterly accounting treatment, segment information, shareholders' equity, going concern, cash-flow note (depreciation) and subsequent events. The FY2025 English tanshin is a 20-page full version. It is the whole tanshin, so 5. Source document →
F3Financial statements including notes available in English5/5
The latest English quarterly tanshin (Q1 FY2026, period to 30 Jun 2026) has full statements: balance sheet, income and comprehensive income, and the cash-flow note. It also has all the statutory quarterly notes, including the segment note with its reconciliation and impairment by segment. The FY2025 English tanshin (20 pages) adds the cash-flow statement, changes in equity and the year-end notes. Full statements and notes for the latest period, so 5. Source document →
F4Annual securities report available in English in any form0/5
The English IR Library has five sections - presentation materials, financial flash report, medium-term plan materials, integrated report, fact book. No securities report, and the company reports none to TSE.
F5Segment revenue and profit disclosed in English, consistent definitions5/5
Every English tanshin gives net sales (external and inter-segment) and segment profit for the two reportable segments, Elastomer Business and Specialty Material Business, plus Others. Q1 FY2026 example: Elastomer ¥58,161m sales and ¥5,546m profit; Specialty Materials ¥33,839m and ¥10,109m. Both prior-year and current quarters are shown. Definitions are stated in the notes: Others includes RIM formulation solutions and paints, adjustments cover elimination and unallocated corporate expenses, and segment profit reconciles to operating profit. The deck breaks each segment down by product line. The 1Q deck minutes explain that latex and chemicals moved into Others in the presentation categories; the reportable segments did not change. 5. Source document →
F6Multi-year financial data file (Excel or CSV) downloadable in English0/5
No .xls, .xlsx or .csv on the English IR site. Link searches covered the IR top, Financial Highlights, Highlights of financial, Financial Summary (Valuation), Presentation Materials, IR Library, Fact Book and ESG Data. What exists instead: HTML tables on Highlights of financial (quarterly cumulative figures, FY3/23-3/27) and a five-year valuation table (EPS, BPS, PER, PBR). The Fact Book was discontinued from FY2025, and the page says its data is now in the Integrated Report's data section (PDF), with older data on request from IR/SR. The 'Download [ZIP]' on the IR top and homepage was opened in the browser and holds only the two latest PDFs: the Q1 deck and the tanshin.
F7Guidance disclosed in English with the basis explained5/5
The English tanshin give the full-year FY2026 forecast (summary p2), and the forecast section explains why it is unchanged: the Middle East situation. The English Q1 deck p25 has the 'FY2026 Performance Forecast by Segment', forecast assumptions (US$=¥150, €=¥175, naphtha ¥63,000/KL, Asian butadiene US$950/MT) and FX sensitivity (¥1/US$ ≈ ¥0.3bn operating income). The FY2025 deck p6 sets the same assumptions beside the forecast, and p12 explains performance against the forecast. Revisions are explained in English, for example the Notice Concerning Revisions to Financial Results Forecasts (30 Jan 2026) with its 'Reason for revision' section. 5. Source document →
F8English financial disclosure current to the latest Japanese filing period5/5
English Q1 results for the year ending March 2027 published 29 July 2026, the same period as the Japanese filing. Source document →
S1Medium-term management plan in English with numerical targets5/5
Medium-Term Business Plan Phase 3 (FY2025-FY2028) in English is 47 pages, page-for-page with the Japanese 47. It gives the targets for FY2026, FY2028 and FY2030: net sales ¥450bn, operating income ¥38bn/¥42bn, ROE 10%/8.4%, EBITDA ¥60bn/¥80bn, ROIC 6.9%/7.0%/8%. It also gives the FX and naphtha assumptions, the non-financial KPI table and the growth-area sales ratio target of 48% by FY2028. The June 2026 progress deck is 44 pages in English and in Japanese, both created 16 Jun 2026. The Sept 2025 correction was translated too. The English Medium-Term Business Plan web page summarises the plan. 5. Source document →
S2IR presentations published in English5/5
Presentation on the Financial Results in English, published 29 July 2026 with the results, and medium-term business plan materials from 10 June 2026 alongside. Source document →
S3English equity-story or investment-highlights page3/5
No 'why invest', investment-highlights or at-a-glance page in the English IR section, and there is no counterpart to the Japanese 個人投資家の皆様へ section. Strengths are told elsewhere. 'All About Zeon' (Company Information) covers the C5-fraction business, history and 'Zeon by the Numbers' charts. 'Data on Zeon' gives founding year, group companies, employees and R&D costs. Integrated Report 2025 has 'Zeon's strengths derived from its history' in its value-creation story. These are company-overview material, not framed for an investor, so 3. Source document →
S4Growth drivers identified and quantified in English5/5
The English Phase 3 plan names growth drivers (COP resins, COP optical films, battery materials) and next-phase drivers (COP molded products, specialty chemicals, single-walled CNTs). It quantifies them: a growth-driver sales index (FY2024=100 to 159 by FY2028, next-phase to 623 by 2035), a growth-area sales ratio from 37% to 48%, and per-driver pages. Examples: optical films have a target market CAGR of 7%, a sales CAGR of 9% and 45 million m² of capacity; semiconductor COP has a 17% sales CAGR, market CAGR of 10%, '100% share for advanced semiconductors' and +12,000 t/yr of new plant. Named drivers with numbers, so 5. Source document →
S5Results-briefing transcripts or Q&A published in English4/5
Neither language has published a Q&A record since the FY2024 briefings (Japanese 主な質疑応答記録 and English 'Q&A from Results Briefing', both to the April 2025 briefing). Since then the Japanese side posts 決算説明会 説明内容, a summary of the presenter's explanation: Q1 FY2026 dated 1 Oct 2026 (3pp) and FY2025 dated 29 May 2026. The English side posts 'Meeting Minutes from Results Briefing for Analysts' for every briefing, after the Japanese: Q1 FY2026 on 7 Oct (2pp, created 7 Oct, 6 days later) and FY2025 on 15 Jun (17 days). It also has minutes for Q3 FY2025 (16 Feb) and H1 FY2025 (2 Dec 2025), and the MTP progress briefing (260714). The minutes match the Japanese summaries page by page. Every period, but later than the Japanese, so 4 (review ruling). Source document →
S6Integrated or annual report available in English4/5
Integrated Report 2025 in English, 13.4MB, with English editions back to 2022. Its figures are stated as at 31 March 2025 and FY2024 dominates the text, so it covers the year ended March 2025 - one edition behind as at 1 October 2026. Source document →
S7Progress against the previous plan, including misses, explained in English4/5
The English Phase 3 plan (June 2025), section '2. Phase 2 Progress' (p6), sets every Phase 2 KPI against FY2023 and FY2024 actuals and FY2026/FY2030 targets. Examples: ROIC for existing businesses 4%/6.3% against 7%; battery-materials sales index 149/132 against 240; cross-shareholdings 19%/15% against <5%; new business sales ¥1.2bn/¥6.4bn against ¥16bn. The explanation is a headline only: 'ROIC improved ... battery materials net sales fell due to EV sales sluggish'. P10 maps each Phase 2 KPI to its Phase 3 treatment with reasons. The June 2026 deck sets Phase 3 progress against targets with ROIC shortfall factors. A reconciliation with partial explanation of variances, so 4. Source document →
G1Corporate governance report available in English4/5
The Corporate Governance Report filed with TSE is in English, 32 pages, but the English edition is dated 31 January 2024 and sits in the English news archive; the governance page links the current report as "Japanese version only". The filed report, more than a year stale: 4 (was 0 on 12 Oct, which read only the governance page; re-checked 14 Oct 2026). Source document →
G2Director biographies in English with tenure, expertise and independence5/5
The English Notice of the 101st AGM (dated 4 Jun 2026, 17pp) covers all nine director candidates, which is the whole board up for election. It has a summary table of gender, position and Outside/Independent flags, then for each a career summary with dates (internal tenure follows from it, e.g. Toyoshima Director since June 2022), board attendance (17/17), shares held and reasons for nomination. Each outside director's tenure is stated, e.g. Kitabata 'will have served twelve (12) years'. All three elements for every director, so 5. Source document →
G3Board skills matrix published in English5/5
The English 101st AGM notice pp15-16 has 'Table of Skills Particularly Expected to be Exhibited by Each Candidate'. It maps materialities and core KPIs to skills, then gives a matrix of 12 skills against all nine director candidates, the same scope as the Japanese notice p20-21. Integrated Report 2025 (English) also carries the skills matrix. Current and in English, so 5. Source document →
G4Executive remuneration structure and its performance linkage explained in English4/5
The English Corporate Governance page sets out the structure: fixed cash, performance-linked cash, fixed stock and performance-linked stock via BBT-RS; outside directors fixed cash only. Integrated Report 2025 (English, p87) adds the indicators. Cash pay is linked to group sales, operating profit ratio and divisional targets. Stock pay is linked to group sales, operating profit and ROIC, plus MTP ESG targets (CO2, engagement, female managers, cross-shareholdings), with financial:non-financial weighted 8:2. It also gives FY2024 amounts: inside directors ¥406m (fixed 154, performance cash 111, non-monetary 142), inside auditors ¥53m, outside officers ¥90m. There are no weights for the cash bonus and no fixed/variable mix, so the floor is 4. Source document →
G5AGM notice in English with sufficient lead time to vote4/5
Notice of the 101st AGM posted 29 May 2026 and dated 4 June for a meeting on 26 June - 22 days at the posting date - 18 pages setting out all three proposals with sixteen candidate-profile entries for the nine directors. Re-checked 23 Oct 2026 (G5 voting-site sweep, after the independent audit): the Japanese notice names the voting website, soukai.mizuho-tb.co.jp (Mizuho Trust & Banking), which is in Japanese only, with no English option, as for ESPEC (6859) and Nitto Boseki (3110). Every proposal in English, but a Japanese-only voting route, so 4. Source document →
G6Shareholder vote results disclosed in English0/5
The English General Meeting of Shareholders page lists the 97th meeting through the 101st, each with a convocation notice, plus one statement of the company's opinion on an ISS recommendation. No resolution notice and no voting results in English.
G7Cross-shareholdings in English with reduction schedule and rationale5/5
Holdings: Integrated Report 2025 (English, p88) charts 'Number of stocks held and their value', with 46 stocks and ¥52,512m (14.7% of net assets) at FY2024, back to 58 in 2019. Target and schedule: <5% of consolidated net assets by end FY2026, set in Phase 2 and carried into Phase 3 (IR, AGM notice, governance page). Progress: ¥11,495m sold in FY2024, and per the English AGM notice (Reference 2) ¥21,668m in FY2025, leaving ¥53,385m (14.1%). Rationale: the English Corporate Governance page describes the holding test, an annual issue-by-issue review of purpose and whether benefits match capital cost, and the voting policy. 5. Source document →
O1English IR section reachable within two clicks of the English homepage5/5
The English homepage (https://www.zeon.co.jp/en/) has 'Investor Relations' in its main navigation, and one click lands on the English IR top (/en/ir/) with news and latest materials. One click, so 5. Source document →
O2English document links resolve to English documents4/5
Sampled 28 English document links. Tanshin: 209088, 203123, 197268, 189516, 161741, 93857 (2012). Decks: 260729, 260513, 260130, 200174965 (2012). Briefing minutes and Q&A: 261007, 260615, 260216, 250630-2. MTP: 250611, 260616, 241202, 230607. AGM: 260529 and 200322344 (2017), plus the 240605 ISS opinion. Integrated Reports 2025 and 2023. Timely disclosures: 260130, 251127, 260513-2, 251030. CG Report Jan 2024 (240131). Every one is an English document. The exceptions are on the English Corporate Governance and ESG Data pages: links to the Basic Policy on Corporate Governance and the current Corporate Governance Report, both labelled '(Japanese version only)' and opening Japanese PDFs. Japanese documents, labelled as such, so 4. Source document →
O3English IR archive free of dead links4/5
All 28 sampled links (see O2) resolved, back to the 2012 tanshin and deck and the 2017 AGM notice. One link is broken in effect. On the English MTP library, 'Status Report on FY2021–FY2022 Medium-Term Business Plan [PDF:1.58MB/20pages]' points to bs/pdf/230607.pdf, the same file as the Phase 2 plan (31 pages), so the 20-page status report cannot be reached. One bad link, so 4. Source document →
O4English IR pages render without blank JavaScript failures5/5
Rendered in Chromium, each IR page renders its content: IR top, IR Library, Financial Flash Report (latest and previous), Presentation Materials, MTP library, Integrated Report, Fact Book notice, General Meeting, Shareholder Information, Latest Financial Report, Stock Information, stock price and dividend history, Analyst Coverage, Bonds and Ratings, IR Schedule, ESG, Management Policy, To Our Shareholders, Dividend and Disclosure Policy, Financial Highlights tables, Valuation and Disclaimer. The previous-flash-report list loads slowly (empty at 1.5s, full at 6s) but it does render. 'Data on Zeon' (Company section) shows animated counters that read 0 in a static render; it is not an IR page. 5. Source document →
O5Single page listing all English IR documents by date and type3/5
No single library. The English IR Library splits into pages by type: Financial Flash Report (latest and previous, grouped by fiscal year), Presentation Materials (decks and minutes grouped by fiscal year, minutes titled with briefing dates), MTP materials, Integrated Report and Fact Book. AGM notices are on a separate General Meeting page. The English news list (filterable to 'Investor Relations', dated) is not a document library: it omits most results postings, e.g. no FY2025, Q3 or H1 tanshin entries. Split by type, each organised by period, so 3. Source document →
O6English archive genuinely populated, not an unverifiable shell5/5
The English archive is deep across types. Tanshin run every quarter from 2003 (2003-2006 with non-consolidated summaries). Results decks run from FY2009, with briefing minutes and Q&A from FY2022. MTP materials go back to SZ-20 (2013), AGM notices to the 92nd meeting (2017), Integrated Reports to 2023, and the news list goes back to 2003. 5. Source document →
O7Named English IR contact published3/5
"Contact Form" in the English IR menu, and the Fact Book page, open the shared corporate contact form with "Investor relations" preselected among its sections (product, careers, accounting, privacy, other). A genuine IR route, but through the general form rather than a dedicated IR contact: 3 (was 2; re-checked 14 Oct 2026). The results summary names Kiyofumi Aoyagi, Division Manager of Corporate Administration. Source document →
R1Earnings materials published in English simultaneously with Japanese3/5
Decks are same-day: English Q1 FY2026 deck created 29 Jul 2026 (Japanese 29 Jul), Q3 FY2025 30 Jan 2026, FY2025 deck created 12 May for the 13 May results. The full English tanshin come later, by PDF creation date (the library gives no posting dates): Q1 FY2026 5 Aug against 29 Jul (7 days), FY2025 29 May against 13 May (16), Q3 FY2025 13 Mar against 30 Jan (42), H1 FY2025 3 Dec against 30 Oct (34). For Q1 FY2026 a '[Summary]' English tanshin was announced the same day (English news 29 Jul 2026). Days to weeks late for the tanshin, so 3. Source document →
R2Median lag in days between Japanese and English statutory publication3/5
Lags (English minus Japanese). Q1 FY2026 tanshin: full version 5 Aug (PDF created) against 29 Jul = 7; the same-day summary would make it 0. FY2025 tanshin: 29 May (PDF created) against 13 May = 16. 101st AGM notice: English posted 29 May 2026 per the English news list (PDF created 27 May), Japanese 260529 = 0. Corporate Governance Report: Japanese updated 7 Jul 2026; the only English one is dated 31 Jan 2024 and the governance page labels the current report 'Japanese version only' = >90. Annual securities report: Japanese 25 Jun 2026, no English = >90. Median 16 days, so 3. Source document →
R3Timely disclosures published in English5/5
The Japanese IR news list for 15 Oct 2025 to 14 Oct 2026, excluding results, AGM and CG filings, has 14 timely disclosures. They are: extraordinary profit update (30 Oct), buyback status (6 Nov), ToSTNeT-3 purchase and result (27 and 28 Nov), buyback completion (1 Dec), cancellation decision (23 Dec), cancellation completed (7 Jan), forecast revision (30 Jan), CXO system (6 Feb), officer transfers (27 Feb), representative director changes (30 Mar), dividend increase and articles amendment (13 May) and director transfers (20 May). All 14 appear in the English news list on the same dates. Spot-checked PDFs are English and dated accordingly (e.g. 251127 created 27 Nov 2025). 5. Source document →
R4English disclosure free of machine-translation accuracy disclaimers5/5
No machine-translation notice anywhere. Checked the rendered English homepage, IR top, IR Disclaimer, site Disclaimer, Disclosure Policy and governance pages, the English contact form, and the documents: tanshin, decks, minutes, AGM notice, timely disclosures and CG report. The documents carry human-translation precedence lines ('translated from (a part of) the Japanese original for reference purposes only ... the original shall prevail'), which belong to R5. 5. Source document →
R5English version stated as authoritative, not subordinate to Japanese1/5
On the results summary and the AGM notice alike: 'translated from a part of the Japanese original for reference purposes only ... the original shall prevail'. Source document →
Open a question for the reasoning and the document its score was read from. A zero means no qualifying English materials were located within the stated review scope as of 2026-10-01. Compare this question across companies →
Capital-policy review
Not scored. 1 action has been reviewed; a score out of 100 is published once 3 or more are. The ratings:
Each action is read against the company’s own filings on four checks: was the promise specific, can the steps be traced, were the economics explained, and did it report back against the target. This records the status of selected actions, not an assessment of the company as a whole. How this is scored →
STAGE30 Phase 3 portfolio and shareholder-return plan
Strategy or target reset · In progress · Action announced 11 June 2025
Zeon launched Phase 3 around selection and concentration, capital efficiency, 4% DOE and ¥40bn of buybacks through FY2026; FY2025 operating income rose 24.1%.
Timeline and sources (2 steps)
- 11 June 2025Phase 3 announced Zeon disclosed portfolio, capital-efficiency and shareholder-return priorities through FY2028. STAGE30 Phase 3 · Medium-Term Business Plan Phase 3 Materials
- 31 March 2026 · announced 13 May 2026FY2025 actuals reported Operating income reached ¥36.4bn and the equity ratio was 68.9%. Latest Financial Report: FY2025
What management said it would do
Zeon committed to portfolio selection and concentration, DOE of at least 4% and ¥40bn of buybacks through FY2026.
From the company’s own disclosure · STAGE30 Phase 3
What it actually did, and when
FY2025 operating income rose to ¥36.4bn and the company continued Phase 3 reporting.
Partly disclosed — a gap remains · Latest Financial Report: FY2025 · Medium-Term Business Plan Phase 3 Materials
What it disclosed about the economics
The plan links returns with portfolio restructuring and growth investment, but business-level capital-release and return data are limited.
Partly disclosed — a gap remains · STAGE30 Phase 3
What has happened since
The FY2026 allocation endpoint was not due.
Partly disclosed — a gap remains · STAGE30 Phase 3
The question this leaves open
Investor question: What capital and ROIC uplift has portfolio restructuring delivered, and why are buybacks superior to alternatives? IR preparation: publish a portfolio-action and capital-allocation ledger.
Our analysis, not a company statement
Balance sheet and capital-policy indicators
A source-backed first-pass capital-efficiency, balance-sheet and governance reading, separate from the accountability score.
Cash use and returns
Capital structure
The FY2025 equity ratio was 68.9%, providing visible balance-sheet capacity.
Governance of capital decisions
Phase 3 explicitly calls for selection and concentration, including withdrawal, downsizing or alliances for low-return businesses.
Preliminary and not scored: a selected-source reading, reviewed 24 September 2026. Surplus cash, leases, maturities, project ROIC, cost of capital, committed spend and peer comparability are not fully assessed; none enters the accountability score. Figures are the company’s own reported numbers; a large cash balance is not called excess without a defensible operating reserve and investment plan. Every company with a balance-sheet reading →
Changes to this record
- Research error 23 October 2026 · G5: 5 → 4. Every proposal is in the English notice, but the voting website shareholders use (Mizuho Trust & Banking) is in Japanese only.
Every change is labelled as a research error, new evidence supplied, improved disclosure or a rule change, with its date and the previous score. Change log →
Scores assess how English information is published, not the quality of the business or its investment value. To report an error or a document we missed, see how to contact us.