Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks, Windamee Research

J. Brian Waterhouse

Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks

Windamee Research

Japanese Banks

Equity Bottom-Up

Tottori Prefecture, in the Chugoku Region of western Japan, is famous for its extensive sand dunes that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year. Tottori is also home to one of Japan’s smallest regional banks, the rather obscure <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tottori-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13337:1" rel="noopener">Tottori Bank (8383 JP)</a> which celebrates the centenary of its founding later this year.From an investment viewpoint, it appears to be trading on a ‘give away’ price-to-book ratio of just 0.23x.  Dig a little deeper, however, and the bank’s many weaknesses are soon revealed: evident lack of scale, geographically trapped in a shrinking local economy, margins under relentless pressure, a chronically high overhead ratio, little ability to absorb ‘normal’ levels of credit losses and risible RoE and RoA ratios.  This is a bank in need of serious restructuring of its business.  While some domestic entrepreneurs such as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">SBI Holdings (8473 JP)</a> might be tempted to take a look at such a bank as an investment opportunity, foreign investors would be well advised to steer clear.  Caveat emptor!  (May the buyer beware!)

Tottori Prefecture, in the Chugoku Region of western Japan, is famous for its extensive sand dunes that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year. Tottori is also home to one of Japan’s smallest regional banks, the rather obscure Tottori Bank (8383 JP) which celebrates the centenary of its founding later this year.From an investment viewpoint, it appears to be trading on a ‘give away’ price-to-book ratio of just 0.23x.  Dig a little deeper, however, and the bank’s many weaknesses are soon revealed: evident lack of scale, geographically trapped in a shrinking local economy, margins under relentless pressure, a chronically high overhead ratio, little ability to absorb ‘normal’ levels of credit losses and risible RoE and RoA ratios.  This is a bank in need of serious restructuring of its business.  While some domestic entrepreneurs such as SBI Holdings (8473 JP) might be tempted to take a look at such a bank as an investment opportunity, foreign investors would be well advised to steer clear.  Caveat emptor!  (May the buyer beware!)

Tottori Bank (8383 JP):  Trapped in the Sands

Financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao and his flagship company <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">Sbi Holdings (8473 JP)</a> have just netted their sixth and seventh regional banks, namely secondary regional banks Kirayaka Bank and Sendai Bank from the Tohoku Region of northern Japan.On Friday 20 November 2020, the holding company for these two banks, tiny <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jimoto-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5763:1" rel="noopener">Jimoto Holdings (7161 JP)</a>, finally announced its interim results for FY3/2021.  Interim net profits collapsed 91% YoY to just ¥64 million (US$615,000), and the group’s revised full-year guidance now warns of a full-year consolidated net loss of around ¥3 billion: largely the result of accumulated valuation losses in the securities portfolio of principal subsidiary Kirayaka Bank.  To rub salt into investors’ wounds, Jimoto Holdings simultaneously announced that it was issuing 3.65 million new shares to a subsidiary of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">Sbi Holdings (8473 JP)</a>  for a consideration of around ¥3.4 billion (US$33.6 million).  The SBI Group will control just over 18% of Jimoto Holdings’ outstanding shares when the transactions are completed.Jimoto Holdings is the latest investment by financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao in Japan’s struggling regional banking sector, and another ‘stepping-stone’ for the SBI Group’s president towards his goal of creating a “fourth megabank”.Foreign investors would be well advised to steer clear.  The future for Jimoto Holdings is far from certain, despite the capital injection.  Caveat Emptor! (May the Buyer Beware!) remains our advice to foreign investors considering investing in the Japanese banking sector in CY2020.

Financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao and his flagship company Sbi Holdings (8473 JP) have just netted their sixth and seventh regional banks, namely secondary regional banks Kirayaka Bank and Sendai Bank from the Tohoku Region of northern Japan.On Friday 20 November 2020, the holding company for these two banks, tiny Jimoto Holdings (7161 JP), finally announced its interim results for FY3/2021.  Interim net profits collapsed 91% YoY to just ¥64 million (US$615,000), and the group’s revised full-year guidance now warns of a full-year consolidated net loss of around ¥3 billion: largely the result of accumulated valuation losses in the securities portfolio of principal subsidiary Kirayaka Bank.  To rub salt into investors’ wounds, Jimoto Holdings simultaneously announced that it was issuing 3.65 million new shares to a subsidiary of Sbi Holdings (8473 JP)  for a consideration of around ¥3.4 billion (US$33.6 million).  The SBI Group will control just over 18% of Jimoto Holdings’ outstanding shares when the transactions are completed.Jimoto Holdings is the latest investment by financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao in Japan’s struggling regional banking sector, and another ‘stepping-stone’ for the SBI Group’s president towards his goal of creating a “fourth megabank”.Foreign investors would be well advised to steer clear.  The future for Jimoto Holdings is far from certain, despite the capital injection.  Caveat Emptor! (May the Buyer Beware!) remains our advice to foreign investors considering investing in the Japanese banking sector in CY2020.

Jimoto Holdings (7161 JP):  Kirayaka Cracks

The stock price of the tiny, embattled <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/towa-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18283:1" rel="noopener">Towa Bank (8558 JP)</a>, a small Japanese secondary regional bank from Gunma Prefecture just north of Tokyo, at one point jumped 13.5% on Friday on 17x normal trading volume after the bank confirmed it was in “co-operative discussions” with online financial specialist <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">Sbi Holdings (8473 JP)</a>.Financial media have suggested the bank is considering a tie-up with SBI through a small mutual shareholding (1% of Towa Bank stock  -  worth roughly ¥275 million  -  for up to ¥200 million in SBI shares) and the establishment of  a jointly-managed fund to support local businesses.  Towa Bank has stated that nothing has been decided as yet.  If media reports are correct, this would be the fifth such investment by financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao in Japan’s struggling regional banking sector.  However, there are some important differences with this tie-up.Towa Bank has a long and unenviable history of poor credit decisions and consequent hefty losses, prompting a taxpayer-funded bail-out in FY3/2010.  The current president has been working hard to turn the bank’s fortunes around, managing to repay ¥20.0 billion in public funds in FY3/2019.  Even so, Towa Bank still has ¥15.0 billion (US$143 million) in public funds to repay, and profits have been shrinking rapidly.While this may be seen as another ‘stepping-stone’ for SBI Group’s president and financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao in his bid to create a “fourth megabank”, investors should bear in mind that the net risk investment amount is little more than chump change for an enterprise like SBI.  Moreover, the apparent emphasis on support for local industry, rather than support for Towa Bank itself, suggests that this tie-up is not a ‘rescue’ of Towa Bank by a ‘white knight’, but an opportunity for a financial entrepreneur to gain valuable access to Towa Bank’s retail client base for a very modest cash outlay.  As such, foreign investors would be well advised to steer clear of Towa Bank stock, as valuations are already demanding.  Caveat Emptor! (May the Buyer Beware!) remains our advice to foreign investors considering investing in the Japanese banking sector in CY2020.

The stock price of the tiny, embattled Towa Bank (8558 JP), a small Japanese secondary regional bank from Gunma Prefecture just north of Tokyo, at one point jumped 13.5% on Friday on 17x normal trading volume after the bank confirmed it was in “co-operative discussions” with online financial specialist Sbi Holdings (8473 JP).Financial media have suggested the bank is considering a tie-up with SBI through a small mutual shareholding (1% of Towa Bank stock  -  worth roughly ¥275 million  -  for up to ¥200 million in SBI shares) and the establishment of  a jointly-managed fund to support local businesses.  Towa Bank has stated that nothing has been decided as yet.  If media reports are correct, this would be the fifth such investment by financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao in Japan’s struggling regional banking sector.  However, there are some important differences with this tie-up.Towa Bank has a long and unenviable history of poor credit decisions and consequent hefty losses, prompting a taxpayer-funded bail-out in FY3/2010.  The current president has been working hard to turn the bank’s fortunes around, managing to repay ¥20.0 billion in public funds in FY3/2019.  Even so, Towa Bank still has ¥15.0 billion (US$143 million) in public funds to repay, and profits have been shrinking rapidly.While this may be seen as another ‘stepping-stone’ for SBI Group’s president and financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao in his bid to create a “fourth megabank”, investors should bear in mind that the net risk investment amount is little more than chump change for an enterprise like SBI.  Moreover, the apparent emphasis on support for local industry, rather than support for Towa Bank itself, suggests that this tie-up is not a ‘rescue’ of Towa Bank by a ‘white knight’, but an opportunity for a financial entrepreneur to gain valuable access to Towa Bank’s retail client base for a very modest cash outlay.  As such, foreign investors would be well advised to steer clear of Towa Bank stock, as valuations are already demanding.  Caveat Emptor! (May the Buyer Beware!) remains our advice to foreign investors considering investing in the Japanese banking sector in CY2020.

Towa Bank (8558 JP):  Another Notch in the Bedpost

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shimizu-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15400:1" rel="noopener">Shimizu Bank (8364 JP)</a>, a small Japanese regional bank from Shizuoka Prefecture in the Chubu Region of central Japan, has slashed its FY3/2020 forecast for consolidated profits by ¥6.3 billion and is now warning of consolidated net losses of as much as ¥3.9 billion, or ¥336.67/share.  The problem seems to be hefty valuation losses in the bank’s investment trusts and equities portfolio, for which the turmoil in global markets caused by the coronavirus pandemic is being blamed. But Shimizu Bank was running into trouble long before the outbreak of COVID-19, with a chronically high Overhead Ratio (OHR) eating into revenues, falling net loan margins, downward pressure on net interest income and core earnings, and a tendency to rely on equity-related profits to shore up reported earnings.Given that the bank only recently agreed to have online financial specialist <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">Sbi Holdings (8473 JP)</a> acquire around 3% of Shimizu Bank’s shares and become a major shareholder, it seems that SBI Group’s president and financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao is going to be a busy man sorting his latest regional bank alliance out and recouping his investment.Caveat Emptor!  (May the Buyer Beware!)

Shimizu Bank (8364 JP), a small Japanese regional bank from Shizuoka Prefecture in the Chubu Region of central Japan, has slashed its FY3/2020 forecast for consolidated profits by ¥6.3 billion and is now warning of consolidated net losses of as much as ¥3.9 billion, or ¥336.67/share.  The problem seems to be hefty valuation losses in the bank’s investment trusts and equities portfolio, for which the turmoil in global markets caused by the coronavirus pandemic is being blamed. But Shimizu Bank was running into trouble long before the outbreak of COVID-19, with a chronically high Overhead Ratio (OHR) eating into revenues, falling net loan margins, downward pressure on net interest income and core earnings, and a tendency to rely on equity-related profits to shore up reported earnings.Given that the bank only recently agreed to have online financial specialist Sbi Holdings (8473 JP) acquire around 3% of Shimizu Bank’s shares and become a major shareholder, it seems that SBI Group’s president and financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao is going to be a busy man sorting his latest regional bank alliance out and recouping his investment.Caveat Emptor!  (May the Buyer Beware!)

Shimizu Bank  (8364 JP):  Clear Water Runs Red

Tiny, struggling <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shimane-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5219:1" rel="noopener">Shimane Bank Ltd/ The (7150 JP)</a>, a Japanese secondary regional bank from Shimane Prefecture in the Chugoku Region of western Japan that in November of last year threw in its lot with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">Sbi Holdings (8473 JP)</a> and is now a 34%-owned affiliate of the online financial specialist, has announced an upward revision to FY3/2020 earnings.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the upward revision is just ¥100 million, the bank is still predicting a consolidated net loss for FY3/2020 of close to ¥2.3 billion, the dividend remains suspended, credit costs and the bank’s non-performing loans are way up, the bank’s Overhead Ratio (OHR) is still not under control, and management has decided not to publish earnings guidance for FY3/2021.  Despite the infusion of new capital from the SBI Group, the stock price has fallen even further since our last Insight <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/shimane-bank-7150-jp-and-behold-a-pale-knight" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:32314" rel="noopener">Shimane Bank (7150 JP):  And Behold, a Pale Knight</a> to just over the ¥400 level.Caveat Emptor!  (May the Buyer Beware!)

Tiny, struggling Shimane Bank Ltd/ The (7150 JP), a Japanese secondary regional bank from Shimane Prefecture in the Chugoku Region of western Japan that in November of last year threw in its lot with Sbi Holdings (8473 JP) and is now a 34%-owned affiliate of the online financial specialist, has announced an upward revision to FY3/2020 earnings.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the upward revision is just ¥100 million, the bank is still predicting a consolidated net loss for FY3/2020 of close to ¥2.3 billion, the dividend remains suspended, credit costs and the bank’s non-performing loans are way up, the bank’s Overhead Ratio (OHR) is still not under control, and management has decided not to publish earnings guidance for FY3/2021.  Despite the infusion of new capital from the SBI Group, the stock price has fallen even further since our last Insight Shimane Bank (7150 JP):  And Behold, a Pale Knight to just over the ¥400 level.Caveat Emptor!  (May the Buyer Beware!) 

Shimane Bank (7150 JP):  A Paler Shade of Red

Japan

The Chikuho Bank, Ltd. is a regional bank mainly operating in south part of Fukuoka prefecture.  The Bank also provides financial services including leasing and credit guarantee services.

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Chikuho Bank (8398 JP)

Tottori Bank (8383 JP): Trapped in the Sands

On a PBR of 0.23x, Tottori Bank looks to be trading on a 'give away' price. Dig a little deeper into the financials, however, and its weaknesses...

J. Brian Waterhouse

Jimoto Holdings (7161 JP): Kirayaka Cracks

Financial entrepreneur Yoshitaka Kitao and his flagship company SBI Holdings (8473 JP) have just netted their sixth and seventh regional banks,...

J. Brian Waterhouse

Towa Bank (8558 JP): Another Notch in the Bedpost

The evidence suggests that this is not a 'white knight' riding to the rescue, but another opportunity for Yoshitaka Kitao to gain access to a...

J. Brian Waterhouse

Shimizu Bank (8364 JP): Clear Water Runs Red

Shimizu Bank (8364 JP), a small Japanese regional bank from Shizuoka Prefecture in the Chubu Region of central Japan, has slashed its FY3/2020...

J. Brian Waterhouse

Shimane Bank (7150 JP): A Paler Shade of Red

Tiny, struggling Shimane Bank Ltd/ The (7150 JP), a Japanese secondary regional bank from Shimane Prefecture in the Chugoku Region of western Japan...

J. Brian Waterhouse

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