Marubeni Annual Report to Shareholders, 'From Recovery to a New Launch'.

Tokyo, Japan, Aug 31, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Marubeni Corporation, one of Japan's largest Sogo Shosha, or diversified trading companies, has issued its Annual Report to Shareholders, for the year ended March 31, 2006. After sweeping away loss-making assets during the "A" PLAN, the Marubeni Group began promoting the "V" PLAN. This three-year, medium-term management plan sought to put the Group back on a growth trajectory by addressing two key management issues: strengthening the Group's earnings base, and improving its financial position.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, the plan's final year, the Marubeni Group completed the "V" PLAN by far exceeding all of its numerical objectives, making the resurgence of a stronger Marubeni a reality. Nobuo Katsumata, President and CEO of Marubeni Corporation, explains in his Message to Stakehoders:

For three years starting from the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004, Marubeni rallied behind a medium term management plan called the "V" PLAN. We envisioned the plan as a roadmap for restoring confidence and trust in the Marubeni brand, and cementing the fundamentals required to compete successfully with rival trading companies. By the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, the "V" PLAN's final year, we were able to far exceed every one of our numerical targets. Consequently, we have laid down a solid foundation for propelling the Group to the next stage of growth in terms of profitability and balance sheet strength.

Favorable conditions in the commodities market, together with strong global economic performance, were undoubtedly vital to the completion of the "V" PLAN. But just as important was a keen awareness that the company's very survival was at stake. This consciousness aligned each of us at the Head Office and Group companies, management and employees alike, along a common vector, drawing us together to achieve the amazing progress we see today. Another key to this success, of course, was the functions made possible through management systems introduced by the "V" PLAN.

The plan's completion has also dramatically improved the atmosphere inside the company, with a renewed vigor and confidence clearly visible across our workforce. The prevailing sense is that Marubeni, once seemingly stuck in a losing, downward spiral, is now wholly entrenched in an upward, virtuous cycle. Our new, two-year "G" PLAN launched in April 2006 reflects this optimism, with the "G" symbolizing both future growth and greater glory for a strong performing Marubeni.

To achieve this, we seek to further accelerate growth to take another dynamic leap forward. Backed by the deep-seated confidence earned in completing the "V" PLAN, we are striving boldly ahead to the new stage of growth that the "G" PLAN will bring, never once forgetting the dire sense of urgency we all felt during our time of major restructuring, nor that we must never again repeat the mistakes of the past.

Each of us at Marubeni, management and employees, stand firmly committed to raising our corporate value and further earning the respect and admiration of our stakeholders. I ask for your continued support and understanding as we strive forward in this important task." (President and CEO Nobuo Katsumata, from the Marubeni 2006 Annual Report to Shareholders)

To download the Marubeni Annual Report Main Volume and Financial Section, please visit:

Marubeni IR website at http://www.marubeni.com/ir/index.html

Japan Corporate News (JCN) annual report gallery at http://www.japancorp.net/reports.asp

About Marubeni

Marubeni Corporation (TSE: 8002) was established in 1858, and is a core company of Marubeni Group, one of Japan's leading general trading houses. Operations encompass domestic import, export and offshore trade. Activities range from the development of natural resources to the retailed marketing of finished products. For the past several years, the Marubeni Group has been establishing and enhancing its worldwide information and communication business. The Marubeni Group focuses on creating "value chain" from upstream to downstream, encompassing a wide variety of business fields, including oil & gas, metals, mineral resources, foods, pulp & paper and chemicals, among others. For more information, please visit www.marubeni.com.

Source: Marubeni

Contact:

Marubeni Corporation
Corporate Communications &
Investor Relations Department
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