Shareholders' equity

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Shareholders' equity

Shareholders' equity

17. Shareholders’ equity:

The following table presents changes in shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding for the years ended March 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

	Number of Shares
	Year ended March 31
	2015			2016			2017
Common stock outstanding at beginning of year		3,717,630,462			3,598,865,213			3,608,391,999
Common stock held in treasury:
Repurchases of common stock		(155,232,995	)		(24,364,753	)		(121,010,524	)
Sales of common stock		5,251			686			468
Common stock issued to employees		36,461,000			33,879,000			40,677,400
Other net change in treasury stock		1,495			11,853			370,108
Common stock outstanding at end of year		3,598,865,213			3,608,391,999			3,528,429,451

The amount available for dividends and acquisition of treasury stock is subject to restrictions imposed by the Companies Act. Additional paid-in capital and retained earnings include amounts which the Companies Act prohibits for the use of dividends and acquisition of treasury stock. As of March 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, the amounts available for distributions were ¥735,394 million, ¥1,069,296 million and ¥1,193,497 million, respectively. These amounts are based on the amounts recorded in the Company’s unconsolidated financial statements maintained in accordance with accounting principles and practices prevailing in Japan. U.S. GAAP adjustments incorporated in these consolidated financial statements but not recorded in the Company’s unconsolidated financial statements have no effect on the determination of the amounts available for distributions under the Companies Act.

Dividends on the Company’s common stock per share were ¥19.0 for the year ended March 31, 2015, ¥13.0 for the year ended March 31, 2016 and ¥20.0 for the year ended March 31, 2017.

The change in common stock held in treasury includes the change in common stock issued to employees under stock-based compensation plans, common stock sold to enable shareholders to hold round lots of the 100 share minimum tradable quantity (adding-to-holdings requests) or common stock acquired to create round lots or eliminate odd lots. Common stock held in treasury also includes, as of March 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, 1,141,686 shares, or ¥2,017 million, 1,129,833 shares, or ¥2,024 million, and 759,725 shares, or ¥758 million, respectively, held by affiliated companies.

Subsequent Events

On April 27, 2017, the board of directors approved a resolution to set up a share buyback program, pursuant to the Company’s articles of incorporation set out in accordance with Article 459-1 of the Companies Act as follows: (a) total number of shares authorized for repurchase is up to 100,000,000 shares, (b) total value of shares authorized for repurchase is up to ¥80 billion and (c) the share buyback program will run from May 17, 2017, to March 30, 2018 (excluding the ten business days following the announcement of quarterly operating results).