Good morning. I'm Kenichi Hori, CEO. Thank you for joining us today. I will explain our progress in the second year of the medium-term management plan 2023, as well as initiatives looking ahead, and give an overview of results for the fiscal year March 2022, and the business plan for the fiscal year March 2023. Then I will hand over to Masao Kurihara, the global controller, who will speak on the results and business plan in more detail. In the fiscal year March 2022, business conditions in the global economy were put under pressure by factors such as COVID-19, shortage of semiconductors, and supply chain disruption. The situation in Russia and Ukraine led to more uncertainty in the global business environment. Geopolitical risk is becoming increasingly evident, and we harbor deep concerns about the current situation in Ukraine, and take it with utmost seriousness.
We hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict as quickly as possible. Regarding financial performance, we achieved high performance in all of our business segments, and saw historically high records for operating cash flow and net profit for the period in fiscal year March 2022. We aim to further expand the earning base in fiscal year March 2023, the final year of the MTMP. First, I will provide an overview of the results for fiscal year March 2022, and the plan for fiscal year March 2023. COCF was JPY 1,158.7 billion, and net profit was JPY 914.7 billion. As mentioned earlier, both significantly exceeding historical high records. ROE was 18% for the fiscal year March 2022 due to high progress in all segments.
As we announced in February, we plan to increase the annual dividend by JPY 20 to JPY 105 per share, and total shareholder returns for fiscal year March 2022 are expected to be approximately JPY 340 billion. That is 30% of COCF. In fiscal year March 2023, we aim to maintain high levels of profitability. Our yearly plan is JPY 950 billion for COCF, and JPY 800 billion for net profit. In fiscal year March 2023, we plan to raise the minimum target of the annual dividend further to JPY 120 per share, an increase of JPY 15 from fiscal year March 2022.
We have decided to initiate a new round of share buybacks of up to JPY 100 billion, as we can anticipate robust levels of cash-generating ability to be maintained going forward. I will now explain about the progress during fiscal year March 2022, the second year of the MTMP. In this particular year, the key drivers behind the achievement of historical high record for earnings were a strengthened earnings base, initiatives aimed at stable supply, and steady implementation of measures for growth strategy, including in the areas of strategic focus. I will now explain about our strengthened earnings base. Regarding the expansion of base profit, we solidly capture the opportunities and the changes in the business environment by capitalizing on our trading functions for LNG, chemicals, and other products.
In existing group companies, we continuously worked hard to lower the break-even point through the cost reduction initiatives, et cetera, which led to an increase in profitability on many fronts. There was also a profit contribution from commencement of operations in multiple projects, primarily in machinery and infrastructure. In addition, we promoted reorganization of our business portfolio, primarily in machinery and infrastructure, energy, and mineral resources. We also restructured some of our existing businesses, thereby successfully strengthening our earnings base. Page seven, I will now explain our business plan for the fiscal year March 2023. There will be no change to our primary policy of working uninterruptedly on transform and grow. We will further strengthen our cash-generating ability while striking a balance between investments out of the high-quality pipeline and shareholder returns.
I will now explain the quantitative targets in the business plan for the fiscal year March 2023. While we expect normalization in some commodity markets such as iron ore, we aim to maintain the robust levels of profitability as in fiscal year March 2022, by enhancing our earnings base in business areas which are less sensitive to market volatility. As I mentioned, there was a significant increase in COCF for the fiscal year March 2022. Reflecting the strong cash-generating ability, we are updating the cash flow allocation for the current three-year period of MTMP. We are expecting upturning cash inflow and upwardly revising COCF to JPY 2.75 trillion.
As for shareholder returns, we allocated JPY 500 billion, reflecting the increase in dividend to make it 120 JPY per share, and JPY 340 billion for share buybacks, including the JPY 100 billion, which we announced earlier this week. We will continue to make growth investments in those selected from our high-quality pipelines, such as new opportunities emerging adjacent to existing core business areas through bolt-on investments or otherwise, in addition to areas of strategic focus while continuing additional shareholder returns. On the other hand, it is possible that we will continue to face highly uncertain conditions. To enable an agile response to drastic changes in business environment and capture emerging opportunities, we will also consider taking a more flexible and strategic cash management.
I will now discuss shareholder returns policy. In fiscal year March 2023, we will raise a minimum target of the annual dividend to JPY 120 per share, and implement share buybacks of up to JPY 100 billion, starting from May to September of this year. While paying close attention to improved capital efficiency, we will continue to consider a flexible approach to shareholder returns in order to achieve our target for total shareholder returns based on COCF. Please take a look at page 12. I will now explain our assessment of the business environment, its impact on the business plan, and our response policies. In our case, there are both positive and negative impacts by issues such as escalating geopolitical risk, supply chain disruption, and surging inflation. Under this kind of environment, we will be much more conscious in risk management and prepared for multiple scenarios.
Additionally, we will be committed to working hard to fulfill our supply responsibilities by constantly optimizing time frames and priorities in an agile manner. In respect of our energy business in Russia, as announced in our release on March 4, we are continuously discussing with relevant stakeholders, including the Japanese government and business partners, for possible future courses of action. While taking into account the energy supply needs and ensuring that we comply with related international sanctions. A loss of JPY 20.9 billion as well as a decrease of JPY 80.6 billion in net assets were recorded in LNG business, mainly due to downgrade of the Russian government credit rating. Please refer to page 35 of our presentation for more details. I will now explain the key initiatives in our business plan for fiscal year March 2023.
As reflecting on this slide, we will further promote disciplined and well-prioritized resource allocation, strengthen the competitiveness of each business, implement reorganization of the business portfolio, and accelerate the formation of robust business clusters. Since the time of the previous MTMP, we have been continuously strengthening our trading functions through diversification of sales channels and supply sources based on customer needs. Further, we have been working to assess management in the group companies such as Penske, IHH, and Novus, which have led to their lower break-even points. As a result of such efforts, our earnings base has significantly increased by solidly capturing COVID-19 recovery demand in fiscal year March 2022. From now onward, we will accelerate these kinds of initiatives by continuously working to form a robust portfolio that is resilient to downward pressure while still being able to capture upside in rising markets.
Here, I will discuss progress in the areas of strategic focus under MTMP. In energy solutions, we have made progress, particularly for promoting clean ammonia manufacturing projects at CF Industries in the U.S., ADNOC in Abu Dhabi, and Woodside in Australia. In particular, we have been discussing with CF Industries in the U.S., the world's largest ammonia producer, about building new blue ammonia production plants. We will soon start a front-end engineering design and looking to make a final investment decision in 2023 and start operating in 2027. In addition, we're jointly working to produce blue ammonia in CF Industries' existing facilities and expecting to start supplying to regions centering on Asia from around 2024, leveraging our global network. Our intention is to contribute to global decarbonization through supply of fuel ammonia as well as clean ammonia for chemical fertilizer use.
We have also accumulated power generation assets to raise our renewable energy ratio above 30% by 2030 through acquiring stakes in renewable energy developer, Mainstream, and in a large renewable energy project in India. We have also made progress in strengthening our alliance with ForeFront Power to promote electric mobility value chain and participating in a carbon credit project in Australian forestry. I will now explain progress in healthcare and nutrition. We seek to promote creation of wellness business cluster along with growth of IHH business, data business centered around IHH, and establishment of wellbeing business cluster that offers services for preventive care, testing, and diagnosis, et cetera. In fiscal year March 2022, IHH achieved record-high earnings as a result of enhanced management capabilities.
We also made progress in establishing a wellness business cluster by acquiring Human Associates Holdings to bolster services pertaining to corporate HR and health insurance association, and established Stone Asia, operating preventive care business. I will now explain our progress in Market Asia. There is progress in new initiatives such as healthcare, nutrition, and infrastructure, et cetera, to capture growth of growing and changing consumer market in Asia. We completed subscription to convertible bonds of CT Corp's holding company in the first quarter of fiscal year March 2022. We are working to develop joint businesses in a wide range of areas, leveraging their unwavering business platform, as well as institutionalizing its management structure by dispatching a director and secondees. Next, I'll explain our response to climate change.
Based on the roadmap to halving our GHG impact by 2030 that we explained in ESG day held last year, we are reconfiguring our business portfolio and promoting projects that contribute to reducing emissions. Moreover, in fiscal year March 2022, as I just mentioned, we made progress in such areas as acquiring a stake in major renewable energy businesses and started demonstration projects in existing businesses toward commercialization of CCS/CCUS. I will now explain our HR strategies. In order to empower human resources in the global arena, we are promoting initiatives such as development of competent individuals for their professional growth, diversity and inclusion, talent management to support right person to the right positions to boost, transform, and grow. Page 20.
Finally, I will explain our D's and I's initiatives, which urge us to respond to uncertain business environments and not only to continue growing amidst uncertainty, but also to allow us to ride the next waves. The words starting from D's and I's have many important key messages. We have lined these up and made them into a model so that each and every one of us has a sense of emergency and thinks thoroughly about what we should be doing now. I'm convinced that this approach will lead to sustainable growth as it becomes part of our corporate culture. That concludes my part of the presentation. I will now hand over to Masao Kurihara, our Global Controller, to explain the details of our operating results for fiscal year March 2022 and our business plan for fiscal year March 2023.
This is Kurihara, the Global Controller. First, I will explain the main changes in COCF by segment compared to the previous year. COCF for the full year increased by JPY 500.6 billion to JPY 1,158.7 billion. In Mineral Resources, COCF increased by JPY 244.7 billion to JPY 552.8 billion, mainly due to higher sales prices at iron ore and coal operations in Australia, higher sales prices at copper operations, and an increase in dividends from Vale and Erdos. In Energy, COCF increased by JPY 157 billion to JPY 280.2 billion, mainly due to an increase in oil and gas prices and LNG trading profit.
In Machinery & Infrastructure, COCF increased by JPY 65.3 billion to JPY 144 billion, mainly due to good performance of group companies centered on automotive and an increase in the dividends from equity method affiliates. In Chemicals, COCF increased by JPY 31.3 billion to JPY 93.8 billion, mainly due to good performance of the trading businesses and the methanol business, as well as strengths in overseas crop protection and agriculture-related businesses. In Iron & Steel Products, COCF increased by JPY 10.4 billion to JPY 12.4 billion, mainly due to the good trading performance. In Lifestyle, COCF increased by JPY 15.4 billion to JPY 35.2 billion, mainly due to good performance of grain trading, recovery of fashion business, strengths in healthcare business.
In Innovation and Corporate Development, COCF decreased by JPY 8.5 billion to JPY 46.6 billion, mainly due to absence of FVTPL profit recorded in the previous year. Other factors such as expenses, interest, taxes, et cetera, which are not allocated to business segments totaled JPY -6.3 billion. Next, I will explain the main changes in profit by segment compared to the previous year. Profit for the year increased by JPY 579.2 billion to JPY 914.7 billion. In Mineral & Metal Resources, profits increased by JPY 317.7 billion to JPY 497.6 billion due to factors such as higher sales price of iron ore and coal operations in Australia, higher sales price of copper operations, and increase in dividend from Vale.
In Energy, profits increased by JPY 86.8 billion to JPY 114 billion, mainly due to increase in oil and gas prices and in LNG trading profit. Although there was absence of deferred tax assets resulting from reorganization of U.S. energy subsidiaries recorded in the same period of the previous year. In Machinery & Infrastructure, profits increased by JPY 74.9 billion to JPY 120.8 billion, mainly due to good performance of the automotive business, primarily in North America, in addition to the absence of the impairment of the rolling stock leasing group company incurred in the previous year. In Chemicals, profits increased by JPY 25.4 billion to JPY 68.9 billion, mainly due to good performance of the trading businesses and the methanol business, as well as strengths in overseas crop protection and agriculture-related businesses.
In Iron & Steel Products, profits increased by JPY 24.8 billion to JPY 26.9 billion due to the good performance of NewMet, resulting from strong steel market conditions and the recovery of the U.S. automotive market and good trading performance. In Lifestyle, profits increased by JPY 48.8 billion to JPY 61.5 billion, mainly due to valuation gain in the fashion business, good trading performance of grain, an increase in profits in the healthcare business, and sale and valuation gain in PHC Holdings shares. In Innovation and Corporate Development, profits increased by JPY 7.4 billion to JPY 57.6 billion, mainly due to sale of multi-family housing property and land in the U.S. Other factors such as expenses, interest, taxes, et cetera, which were not allocated to business segments totaled negative JPY 32.6 billion.
The table below shows the main factors influencing year-on-year changes in profit. Base profit increased by approximately JPY 281 billion. This was mainly due to steady trading performance of LNG, chemicals, and steel products, increase in dividends received from iron ore businesses, and strong profitability in all segments. Looking at the resource-related costs volume, profit decreased by approximately JPY 25 billion due to the impact of rising labor costs in the mineral and metal resources business, and also decrease in volume due to the production decline in Montara offshore project. Asset recycling resulted in an increase of approximately JPY 3 billion in profits, mainly due to the partial sale of shares in PHC Holdings and the sale of multifamily housing property in the U.S. In commodity prices forex, profit increased by approximately JPY 235 billion.
Commodity prices increased approximately JPY 62 billion due to steady iron ore prices, approximately JPY 61 billion due to coal prices, and approximately JPY 62 billion due to oil and gas prices. In Forex, the weaker yen resulted in an increase in profit of approximately JPY 29 billion. Finally, valuation gain/loss, et cetera, resulted in an increase of JPY 85 billion, mainly due to the absence of impairment loss in the Moatize coal and infrastructure projects incurred in the same period of the previous year, while a decrease of JPY 20.9 billion was recorded in Arctic LNG 2 project, mainly due to accounting loss caused by downgrade of the Russian government credit rating, et cetera. In this section, I will discuss cash flow allocations for the current year.
Cash in for the period was JPY 1,416 billion, comprising COCF of JPY 1,159 billion and asset recycling of JPY 257 billion. Principal asset recycling included loan collection in the copper business and sale of the contract manufacturing business of MicroBiopharm Japan Co., Ltd. On the other hand, cash out was JPY 856 billion, comprising investment and loans of JPY 511 billion and shareholders' return of JPY 345 billion, i.e., share buybacks of JPY 175 billion and dividend of JPY 170 billion.
Main investment and loan included subscription to convertible bonds of the holding company of Indonesia's CT Corp, acquisition of shares in Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd., investment in European agrochemical company Belchim Crop Protection, maintenance CapEx in existing projects such as oil and gas projects and Australian iron ore and coal businesses, LNG and power generation projects under development, and real estate business. We will continue strategic allocation of funds to growth investments and shareholder returns corresponding to the increases in COCF, comprehensively considering the investment opportunities and business environment. Now, let us take a look at the balance sheet as of the end of the current year. The net interest-bearing debt was approximately JPY 3.3 trillion, which was almost the same level as that of the previous year.
Shareholders' equity was increased by about JPY 1 trillion to JPY 5.6 trillion, mainly due to the increase in profit for the period, foreign currency translation adjustments due to weak yen, and fair value on the financial assets measured at FVTOCI, while a decrease of JPY 80.6 billion was recorded in two LNG projects as reduction in other comprehensive income, mainly due to downgrade of the Russian government credit rating, et cetera. As a result, net DER has fallen to 0.60 times. We will continue to maintain and strengthen our financial base through our cash flow allocation framework. I will now describe the business plan for COCF and profit for fiscal year March 2023.
COCF is forecasted to decrease by JPY 208.7 billion to JPY 950 billion, and profit for the period is forecasted to fall by JPY 114.7 billion to JPY 800 billion year-on-year due to normalization of conditions in some of the commodity markets, mainly in mineral and metals resources, et cetera. On the other hand, profitability of those businesses which are less sensitive to market volatility are expected to be almost at the same level as in the previous year. The following table compares the plan for fiscal year March 2023 with the actual results for the previous year and shows the main factors expected to influence year-on-year changes.
Base profit is forecasted to decrease by about JPY 160 billion due to decrease in dividend from iron ore business operations, less profit from LNG business, as well as due to the absence of FVTPL gains recorded in the fiscal year March 2022. Resource-related costs volume factor is expected to decrease by about JPY 23 billion, mainly due to expected decrease in production and increase in cost, while prices of crude oil and LNG remain steady. Looking at asset recycling, an increase of about JPY 34 billion is currently expected for the fiscal year March 2023, forecasting sales of multiple assets. Commodity prices Forex will contribute to an increase of about JPY 32 billion, mainly due to increase in oil and gas prices and weaker yen. That concludes my presentation. Thank you.
Now, we'd like to start the Q&A session.
Thank you very much for your explanation. I would like to ask two questions. My first question is about the Russian LNG project, Sakhalin-2 and Arctic LNG 2. What is the situation of the operation, the current situation of the two projects? On page 35 of the presentation material, you have disclosed the guarantees, the balance, JPY 182.2 billion. With what kind of incidents, what kind of impact on the P&L is expected going forward is what I'd like to know. Please talk about the risks. If there's going to be provisions, is it going to impact our shareholders' returns and your cash situation? That is my first question on the Russian LNG projects.
About the cash flow allocation of MTMP, this is on page 10 of the presentation material. As for the management allocation, gross investments and shareholders' returns, which will come to JPY 740 billion, which does not include buyback in the asset recycling. If the market condition continues, we believe the market's current condition is going to make it go up. There are many selection options that is available going forward when it comes to management allocation. When it comes to additional returns, what are the options? In order to elevate the corporate value, how will the cash be used going forward? That is my second question.
Thank you very much for your question. As for your first question about the Russian operations, Sakhalin-2, the sanctions are going to be more strict going forward.
The delivery and also settlement has been done, and operation is continuing at the moment. We are in negotiation with the stakeholders all the time to make decisions. A stable supply is something that is in our mind. With Sakhalin-2, it is a continued operation from that standpoint. As for Arctic LNG 2, this is a project in construction at the moment. With the excess of Russian country risks, we believe that the risk is escalating, as you all know. We have made the analysis, and at the end of the year, we had looked at our provisions, and this is a provision that we have announced for this occasion. Going forward, depending on how the situation of Ukraine changes, of course it is very difficult to foresee.
For example, if the sanctions become stricter going forward, and materials and equipment, if the procurement of those become difficult and the development project need to be changed substantially. If that kind of a situation arises, then what kind of additional measures we need to take is something that we need to consider. As at the moment, the development plan at the moment is continuing as planned. As for your question, I think the intent of your question is that these are guarantees, the position of guarantees that we have disclosed. If because of certain scenarios, if we need to make provisions further, and if that is going to impact the cash flow, how it's going to impact the shareholder returns going forward? I think that is the intent of your question.
Currently, we have taken all the measures that is necessary, and if we need additional measures, accounting treatments. We are going to consider the continuance of the project and the risk management of the projects will be maintained in a substantial manner going forward. At this moment, the impact on the returns that we have talked about in our engagement, I believe that has not changed. I may be repeating myself, but the cash flows position for the three years is very, very strong. Maybe this is an answer to your second question now, but fortunately, the options for Mitsui is increasing. In order to increase our corporate value, we may put it into new investments or may consider new returns.
As you say, we do have a number of options available. We are almost seeing the subsidence of COVID-19. Globally, we are looking at the different projects that we can go into. We do have a very strong pipeline in front of us. I think that is how we can take it. Especially, we are seeing transitions in energy fields. For decarbonized or low-carbon society going forward, there are a number of solutions. Globally, there are many projects that is available in front of us.
Whether we are going to do them all, but in energy, we would like to aim for returns that we have been seeing, and we want to take it to the next stage in the new energy stage, so that we'll be able to take it in. We'd like to make it into projects that we will be able to realize with confidence. For such projects, of course, some may require M&A, or some also may need developments. We are increasing the cash on hand, and we are going to put that cash into such projects and pipelines going forward. This and also shareholders' returns, they need to be considered in balance, and this policy is unchanged. Going back to the first part of your question about the shareholders' returns.
Of course, within management allocation, long-term investment and shareholders' returns, they are both considered. How management allocation is going to appear going forward is something that we will monitor. We want to consider returns that is going to lead to substantial engagement. We hope that it will continue to maintain shareholders' returns that is going to realize our policy. What we can say for sure is all incorporated in the presentation material. Situation changes and new information to be gained, all these will be considered to make decisions on the investments and shareholders' returns going forward.
Thank you. Any other questions?
Thank you very much for today. There are two questions. The first one is the level of your real earning power as a company. Originally in the initial part of MTMP, JPY 400 billion for profit for the year, but now it's JPY 800 billion, which is double. For March 2023, as you developed the business plan, the MTMP and the base profit is going to be dropped from the previous fiscal year. Items include the dividend decline in iron ore and LNG and FVTPL. The factors other than iron ore and LNG will probably have the increased level of profit base from the previous fiscal year, and you are making plans for that.
You have this strong base, and how are you going to catch up, and see your profit base catching up in the next fiscal year as well? The second one is LNG question. The environment is now seeing increased demand in terms of transition. You talked about Arctic LNG 2, but Mozambique LNG is another one. The level of demand is heightened, so you have to build the project as soon as possible and sooner than you had expected. What sort of negotiations are you having with your stakeholders, and do you see any further progress going forward? Can you update us on that?
With regard to the first part of your question, the real earning power of our company, there are two factors.
First of all, the strong recovery, the degree of strength of the recovery since the COVID-19. How long would it last? I believe that there is some tangible response in the global expansion, and also there are increased basis for earnings increasing steadily. For each of the business units, in order to respond to COVID-19, the break-even point has been lowered, and that is a fact. The expansion of the scope and the level of real earning power elevated, so the break-even point is lowered. The machinery and chemicals and materials and steel and lifestyle, including healthcare and food, and the innovation and corporate development. In those, the base profit translated into cash.
Compared to the previous management term, medium-term management plan, JPY 100 billion increase has been seen. In March 2023, the demand from the recovery from COVID-19 will be continued. In the inflationary economy, there could be some business opportunities, but I don't know how long that would last. A certain level of a forecast with some sort of conservatism is made, and also business foundation has been expanded. Those are the two factors that have been incorporated in the budget that we have come up with for the next fiscal year, or this fiscal year. For the budget's accumulation from each of the business units has shown some sort of strength expected.
As for LNG, as you said, in transition, the low carbon society and energy transition in these environments, LNG role has been heightened, and from the geopolitical point of view, that importance has been further heightened. Globally speaking, you have to secure the total amount of LNG projects, and that is the responsibility that we have to fulfill in North America and Mozambique that you mentioned, and Middle East and Australia, and Russia Arctic project, which I believe is very important in that sense. We would like to proceed with the development. As for Mozambique, last year, around spring, there was an attack incident in the peripheral area of the site. The security has deteriorated and became unstable, and construction work has been suspended.
In the neighboring countries to Mozambique had a multilateral collaboration since then, and the attackers have now been swept, and the citizens that have had once evacuated have been returned now, and that situation has been continuing. In our perspective, the stability of the livelihood of the local community has to be maintained. If that happens, then we can resume the construction work. TotalEnergies is the operator of this project, and TotalEnergies is also watching that. If you look at the message from them, by the end of 2022, there's a possibility that you can make that decision at some point in time. We would like to work with them so that we can ensure the early resumption of Mozambique project.
This project has to be completed properly. Otherwise, if you look at the long-term demand, supply, and various technological progress ahead of the low carbon energy society, there is some gap that you have to fulfill, so you have to do that. In the global foundation extension is the follow-up question. In the supply shortage in the previous fiscal year, there were more opportunities to make profits. There is a Ukraine invasion, and there is sanctions that are gradually increasing. For example, coal produced in Australia could face a supply shortage. In your global network, there are many things that you can do, in other words, there is an environment that will allow you to do that. Is that correct?
Well, there are many supply chain issues and disruptions, and as a trading firm, especially for our company, there is a global network that we emphasize. The cross-country and cross-sector ideas are being provided so that we can provide integrated solutions to stabilize the supply chain. There are many opportunities for that, and there are chemicals, food, including grains, energy trading, and also automotive retails. In the big issues of supply chain, we are providing rental and lease services in automotive retail business. By strengthening supply chain, we are also strengthening our functions as well, and that could be the factors for further development going forward. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I'd like to ask two questions. My first question, going back to Russia once again. It's very difficult to ask this question, but you have disclosed the balance. What is the maximum loss that we can expect? I mean, this is a general question, but for trading companies, they invest in countries with risks, and they do take coverage from NEXI, the insurance company. I'm sure you talk with different countries when you go into that country. If there is a loss, will it be covered by insurance? I do not know the actual conditions that is applied, but do we need to consider such risks when making investments? I'm just want to know that you are not going to lose JPY 400 billion as a whole.
What is the maximum loss that we can expect from that point of view? The second question is, as you mentioned, there is a division of the world starting with the invasion of Ukraine. You talked about decarbonization and energy transition going forward, and you said that they are higher in priority. With those external environment, I believe that the priorities is going to change, including decarbonization. Arctic 2 may be terminated, and that is going to change your growth stories going forward. You will need to look at other areas for LNG projects. There are a number of cases that we can consider. We need to take into consideration country risks. There will be new country risks emerging going forward if the world divides further.
How to take risks and how to make priorities when it makes the investments, are they going to change? If so, please explain. That is my second question.
Thank you very much for your questions. As for your first question about Russia, the maximum exposure, that was the question. The question you asked is a provisional hypothesis or speculation. It's very difficult to answer your question. NEXI insurance, as you mentioned, this project is a target of that insurance, but I will refrain from talking about the mechanism of the insurance of NEXI. Please refer to NEXI's announcements, because we take it as they make the information available. I will refrain from answering your question for myself.
Of course, there are scenarios or hypothesis of what is going to happen in Russia. Our development plan at the moment in the Arctic, the premise is that it is going to continue. If there are unexpected situation that is going to arise going forward, and if they need additional measures, then we will consider the situation appropriately and make announcements as to what the measures we'll be taking. This is a project under construction. If there are some guarantee of the customers, and if there are unexpected incidents, how the risks will be covered and what kinds of measures needs to be taken. I think there are a number of options. We will negotiate with the stakeholders as to which options we will take.
We will also look at how the stakeholders are involved. There are many scenarios available, and we follow them to be involved in such projects. We will minimize the exposure as possible, and we will look for and explore the best way forward in completing the projects. As for your question on the priorities, as you mentioned, I agree that for low-carbon society, there are a number of opportunities, and we are looking at effective very high-value projects, CF Industries we are working with at the moment. These become the candidates for the future for our projects. Of course, a low-carbon society and also for energy transition, I believe these projects are going to bring in good prospects.
Cameron, there are many expansion projects that is ongoing, so these are also big projects that are under consideration as well. There are no substantial projects I can talk about at the moment, but with LNG, we may look at projects in the future, looking at the political situation and regional competitiveness. If there are appropriate projects to consider, we will do so. With COVID-19, what has become apparent is that healthcare projects, their growth potential is very big. As I mentioned before, with Asia, there are connections between Asia and U.S., and in the future, maybe connecting Japan as well. They are health projects that we can focus on going forward.
Whether there are changes in the priorities, of course, we need to take consideration of the country risks. If we look back on the trend of the country risks and looking at the actual results, the U.S. has been upping the priority. We have large U.S.-based profits. There are many cases that grow with the U.S. in the center. There are many pipelines in the U.S. at the moment, so we would like to respond accordingly. We need to look globally and make a balanced-
Participation. Focus areas will be less, and as I mentioned, healthcare and consumer businesses. I believe Asia will be our focus. In comparison, I believe these areas, their priority is increasing. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. I have two questions as well. As you explained, especially the strategic focus, from long-term perspective, the investment in platform is probably the significant part of that. What you have done so far, and how you can give more specifics as action plans, that is what I'm focusing on. Going forward, what sort of pipeline are you going to have, and what are the internal incentives to promote those, in what time frame, so that people from outside can see that?
If you can just give us your idea about more specific ideas about going forward. The second question, the high quality pipeline is something that you are going to look at. That's what you said. In large-scale investments, probably the time frame would be, like, 2030, so long-term investment will be the focus area. However, on the other hand, more steady short-term tangible results should be made in order to have a balance in terms of profit growth. How are you going to hit the balance in terms of areas and time frames? What are your thoughts? If you can give us that would be appreciated.
Thank you for your questions. You have asked two questions, but I'd like to answer both in one response.
The time frame and the business area, how are we going to build new projects, in terms of strategic focus is your question. What we earn from, or the projects that are generating profits or assets, and areas that are generating profits currently, if you look at them, we extend that time frame and then strengthen those areas. In the low-carbon new projects, we are going to have projects with a profit profile that will be the same as a gas project. In the development projects, the new development projects, you have to make sure that that will generate profit. There are infrastructure available in the world, in society. Because we have to have infrastructure in place in order to have tangible results in the carbon credit.
We have to complete projects that will give us the gen-profits. They have to have bridging projects to lead us to that. We will continue with existing projects investment and also new project investments. We have to combine these to have a proper formula. You talked about internal incentives, so we have to share all these with everybody inside the company so that people can understand better. If you just pursue EBITA, high EBITA projects, then that formula could lose balance. You have to have more precise analysis on that. Sometimes you may pursue that, but you have to also look at the effect in terms of time frame. If you are quite sure, then you may go for that. The same goes for healthcare.
In Asian hospitals, the highest ever profit was made in the previous fiscal year. Testing and diagnosis and data, rudimentary collection, those are still there in hospitals. In the future, these will be all spun off into separate entities. Then, in that environment, in the sub-segments, the proper profitability ratio should be ensured. That is the area that we are looking at. You look at the current status, and you have to make sure that profit is generated currently. In some specific areas, we would have more business. If you have the platform in place, then you can do that. That is the line of thought that we have. Therefore, this is just an example.
In each of the areas, the growth stories should be considered and discussed internally. Probably what remains unchanged will be the following. The trading functions have to be even made more sophisticated, and that remains the same. If you look at the LNG trading, the trading is becoming even more complicated and complex. If you look at the carbon credit trading and derivative trading, all of these are getting sophisticated and spreading around the world, and risk management has to be done by professionals. We, as a company, looked at this as one of the business axes to focus on. Does that answer your question?
I would like to ask two questions, please. My first question about machinery and infrastructure.
JPY 40 billion growth is expected. What are the factors behind that growth? JPY 160 billion is a plan for this year. Potentially, what is the profitability base that you have? This is about the machinery and infrastructure. As for chemicals, nutrition and agricultural products, what are the growth potentials for nutrition and agriculture? These are the two questions I'd like to ask. Thank you very much.
Thank you. When it comes to machinery and infrastructure, for March 2023, we have shown a very strong substantial budget. We have considered the contents, and we believe this is appropriate. North American automotive-related businesses, I will not go into details here. Also, South America and Asia, these are very close to consumers, dealership businesses and also financial services associated. They are established business models for these businesses, so organic growth is something that we can foresee. These are the pillars for these businesses. When it comes to infrastructure, there are a number of projects that is going to show profits starting from March 2023. We believe that this has led to and forms a basis for a strong budget for March 2023.
South American gas and supply and also shipping businesses, we believe that machinery and infrastructure, they can expect very strong businesses going forward. As for your second question about nutrition and agriculture, we want to really have a wider scope, especially in the agricultural sector. We want something that is environmentally friendly, including fertilizers and agricultural products that is easy on the environment and materials and tools as well. We need to think about geopolitical situation as well, but we believe that the market is going up. Agricultural production, how we can provide a stable agricultural operations in this situation and how we can contribute to that is something that we need to think about.
A cheaper and secure protein and grains to be provided as feed. We call them micro-ingredient, but how they can be combined is going to be more important going forward. This is same as low carbon. We need to have an integrated approach to protect the global natural capital. Otherwise, we are going to provide a negative impact. Therefore, the turnarounds that we have completed for the businesses we're involved in, and we are forecasting growth in profits. We would like to explore and acquire new business opportunities in those areas going forward. Thank you very much.
Any other questions?
Thank you. There are two questions. The first question is about Arctic LNG again. TotalEnergies, in the earlier announcement, recorded JPY 4.1 billion in losses, and their equity is 10%. You have Japan Arctic LNG, 10% in total and 50% in voting rights and 25% in terms of monetary amount. Even if you adjust the equity, your equity interest, the losses recognized by TotalEnergies and losses recognized by you are quite wide apart. You may ask us to ask TotalEnergies for reasons, but if you can give us some information, that would be appreciated. That's first question. Secondly, you have revisited the bonuses and compensation for the directors, and this has been more sophisticated.
You also introduced that toward the end of your presentation. If you have any additional information, for example, ROE and ESG has been part of the evaluation for compensation. From the ROE, which is quite high already, how are you going to incentivize this? In terms of ESG, which part are you going to focus on? Maybe we should look at more materials for more details, but if you can give us more information at present, then that would be appreciated. Thank you.
For the first question, well, you have to ask TotalEnergies.
If you look at the information that has been announced by TotalEnergies and our accounting provision, is it going to be changed? No. We look at our own situation and risk profile, and we have made a thorough discussion with our auditors, and we believe that this is healthy, sound, and this is as much as we can do. We don't know how much how was the thought on the part of TotalEnergies. As with regard to the compensation for directors, in a basic principle, the performance-based bonuses will be increased. Also, basic compensation for short term and long term. Well, this really is. What is important is alignment with shareholders, but share price linked or share value linked part will be also increased.
Those are two basic principles, and we have had discussions with board of directors. Then we came up with this evaluation system. As for ROE and ESG, the performance link is something that we have yet to work out, so we can't give you the details. For those very important indices, the board of directors would look at the performance of directors from various objective indices, and they have discussions and look at what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. This is quite important in terms of governance, and that's the basic thought that we have as we proceed with this. Thank you.
There seems to be no other questions, so we'd like to end the Q&A session. We have an announcement. At the end of the PowerPoint slides, you can see that we will have a business briefing June sixteenth. Also, December second, we are going to hold the Investor Day. We will email the details to you. We hope to have your participation in these two events going forward. With that, we'd like to end this session for today. Thank you so much for your participation despite your busy schedule. Thank you very much.