TOP 2009 First-half Financial Results and Future Business Strategy Contents 2009 First-half Financial Results Future Business Strategy First-half Sales of Beer-type Beverages Sales Forecasts for Beer-type Beverages Beer Brand Strategy Happoshu and New Genre Brand Strategy Other Alcohol Category Results and Future Strategy Streamlining Marketing Costs Asahi Soft Drinks Busiiness Overview and Future Strategy Food and Healthcare Business Overview and Future Strategy Overseas Business Overview and Future Strategy Growth of Tingyi-Asahi-Itochu Beverages Holding Co. Ltd. Acquisition of Schweppes Australia Investment in Tsingtao Brewery Back Cover We acquired a 19.9% stake in China's Tsingtao Brewery Co. in April of this year. The shares were purchased at a total cost of US$666.5 million, or around ¥67.6 billion. We are still working to finalize the details of a comprehensive strategic alliance, but Tsingtao has agreed to appoint Asahi Breweries personnel to its board of directors and we therefore expect to start counting the company as an equity-method affiliate in the relatively near future. This alliance should help to improve the profitability of our existing Chinese operations at the same time as providing crucial support for Tsingtao's own growth strategy, and we also see considerable potential for the tie-up to help deepen the Asahi brand's presence in the Chinese market from a medium- to long-term perspective. We have built up invaluable relationships of mutual trust since launching our Shenzhen joint venture back in 1997 and our Tingyi joint venture in 2004, and we will now be striving to forge another strong partnership with a view to broadening our geographical presence in the rapidly expanding Chinese market.