Kobe Steel's policy is to distribute dividends on a continuous and stable basis. Dividends are decided taking into account the Company's financial condition, trends in its business performance, future capital needs, and other issues from a comprehensive standpoint.

On this basis, Kobe Steel decided to pay a dividend of JPY 1 per share for the first half of fiscal 2011.

However, with regard to the dividend at the end of the fiscal year in March 2012, as many uncertainties need to be taken into consideration, the amount of the dividend cannot be determined at this time.