Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<p>Our bullish outlook remains intact and is supported by the absence of breakdowns across major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, and EAFE) and ongoing positive market dynamics. Until this changes, we believe global equities are headed higher in the coming weeks and months.</p>

Our bullish outlook remains intact and is supported by the absence of breakdowns across major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, and EAFE) and ongoing positive market dynamics. Until this changes, we believe global equities are headed higher in the coming weeks and months.

Global Equity Strategy: Stick With Reflation & Reopening Theme

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist, LightStream Research

Campbell Gunn

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>• MARKET UPDATE •</strong></p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/185/821/original/2021-01-28_05-31-21.png?1612123987" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="185821"></figure></section><p><strong>PEAKY</strong> - Thursday's Vale Traded ratio was the highest year-to-date and the third-highest since the COVID-low of 13th March 2020. Down Volume reached 'Panic' levels and was the third-highest in six years. On the previous two 'Panic' days in 2020, this proved to be a buying opportunity. We are less sure this will be this case in 2021.</p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/185/822/original/2021-02-01_05-17-55.png?1612124290" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="185822"></figure></section><p><strong>BOJ 'TAPERS'</strong> - The Bank of Japan, naturally intervened by purchasing ETFs but did not, however, raise its recently-reduced buying amount. The central bank also failed to intervene again on Friday, despite the sharp fall in the major indices. As a percentage of Value Traded, Thursday's intervention was the smallest in six years. With long-bond yields rising to a two-year high of 0.5%, perhaps their attention has been diverted elsewhere?</p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/185/824/original/2021-01-30_14-31-02.png?1612124614" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="185824"></figure></section><p><strong>50-DAY MOVING AVERAGE CROSSOVER?</strong> - As a result of Friday's decline, Total Market Value is poised to crossover the 59-Day Moving Average for the first time since 12th October - a further test of this bull market's resolve. As noted last week, 50/200-day moving average 'gaps' of over 60 are rare and normally occur at significant market tops.</p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/185/827/original/2021-01-30_14-45-46.png?1612124854" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="185827"></figure></section><p><strong>RESULTS SEASON BEGINS</strong> - Since 15th January, 644 companies have reposted quarterly results. Although, as will be covered in the DETAIL section below, earnings momentum is improving. The aggregate net income forecast is above trailing net income, trailing aggregate operating, and net profit are both still declining.  Trailing and forward earnings multiples are still over 30 times, despite the 3.5% decline from the TOPIX peak on 14th January.</p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/185/831/original/2021-01-31_17-16-42.png?1612125298" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="185831"></figure><hr></section><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>• RESULTS SUMMARY - 29th JANUARY •</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;">Of Fridays' 399 results announcements, 71% scored positively for earnings momentum despite trailing revenues falling by 5.3% on average and a 1.7 point decline in operating margins - we are now well past the cycle low point for earnings. Only 11% of companies were in the red for the quarter.  The percentages for forecasts are less optimistic. Only 59% of forecasts and revisions scored positively, although the average score was +2.4 points.  Many large consumer-orientated businesses have yet to see a resumption of pre-COVID levels of activity.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>• BEST &amp; WORST •</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;">Our<strong> Best</strong> and <strong>Worst</strong> selection from Friday's announcements is the Diversified Freight Services Peer Group (which includes <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yamato-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2:1" rel="noopener">Yamato Holdings (9064 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nippon-express-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18582:1" rel="noopener">Nippon Express (9062 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sg-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26070:1" rel="noopener">SG (9143 JP)</a>) and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/daiichi-sankyo-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3014:1" rel="noopener">Daiichi Sankyo (4568 JP)</a>. </p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/185/843/original/2021-02-01_06-46-24.png?1612129615" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="185843"></figure></section><section class="figure"><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/185/846/original/2021-02-01_06-49-21.png?1612129775" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="185846"></figure></section><p></p></section>

• MARKET UPDATE •PEAKY - Thursday's Vale Traded ratio was the highest year-to-date and the third-highest since the COVID-low of 13th March 2020. Down Volume reached 'Panic' levels and was the third-highest in six years. On the previous two 'Panic' days in 2020, this proved to be a buying opportunity. We are less sure this will be this case in 2021.BOJ 'TAPERS' - The Bank of Japan, naturally intervened by purchasing ETFs but did not, however, raise its recently-reduced buying amount. The central bank also failed to intervene again on Friday, despite the sharp fall in the major indices. As a percentage of Value Traded, Thursday's intervention was the smallest in six years. With long-bond yields rising to a two-year high of 0.5%, perhaps their attention has been diverted elsewhere?50-DAY MOVING AVERAGE CROSSOVER? - As a result of Friday's decline, Total Market Value is poised to crossover the 59-Day Moving Average for the first time since 12th October - a further test of this bull market's resolve. As noted last week, 50/200-day moving average 'gaps' of over 60 are rare and normally occur at significant market tops.RESULTS SEASON BEGINS - Since 15th January, 644 companies have reposted quarterly results. Although, as will be covered in the DETAIL section below, earnings momentum is improving. The aggregate net income forecast is above trailing net income, trailing aggregate operating, and net profit are both still declining.  Trailing and forward earnings multiples are still over 30 times, despite the 3.5% decline from the TOPIX peak on 14th January.• RESULTS SUMMARY - 29th JANUARY •Of Fridays' 399 results announcements, 71% scored positively for earnings momentum despite trailing revenues falling by 5.3% on average and a 1.7 point decline in operating margins - we are now well past the cycle low point for earnings. Only 11% of companies were in the red for the quarter.  The percentages for forecasts are less optimistic. Only 59% of forecasts and revisions scored positively, although the average score was +2.4 points.  Many large consumer-orientated businesses have yet to see a resumption of pre-COVID levels of activity.• BEST &amp; WORST •Our Best and Worst selection from Friday's announcements is the Diversified Freight Services Peer Group (which includes Yamato Holdings (9064 JP), Nippon Express (9062 JP), and SG (9143 JP)) and Daiichi Sankyo (4568 JP). 

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Market + Results & Revisions Update 01/29

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<p>At the end of March 2016, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7797:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP)</a>,  <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-transport-system-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2395:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi Transport System (9086 JP)</a>, and as-yet unlisted <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sg-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26070:1" rel="noopener">SG Holdings (9143 JP)</a><a href="https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2016/03/f_160330a.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that Hitachi Transport and SG subsidiary, and well-known door-to-door delivery unit Sagawa Express would form a capital and business tie-up and would look to merge <em>"within three years"</em> (i.e. merger by 1 April 2019). </p><p>The deal was that Hitachi Transport was going to spend ¥66.3bn to buy a 20% stake in the unlisted <em>delivery</em> subsidiary of then still-unlisted SG Holdings, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7797:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP)</a> was going to sell a 29% stake (out of the 59% they owned) in Hitachi Transport for ¥87.5 billion. They were both going to expand strongly outside of Asia.  HTS was known at the time for its 3PL and "Smart Logistics" capabilities to make customer supply chains more efficient, etc, whereas Sagawa was known as a top last-mile delivery business. The combined entity was set to overtake <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yamato-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2:1" rel="noopener">Yamato Holdings (9064 JP)</a> in terms of revenue and get closer to industry top dog <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nippon-express-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18582:1" rel="noopener">Nippon Express (9062 JP)</a>. It was supposed to help SG improve margins by doing more in B2B. </p><p>SG IPOed in late 2017. Three years came and went. Nothing happened. There were collaborative projects started such as a "Japan-China integrated service" and "mutual utilisation of logistics facilities" such as e-commerce delivery hubs, but it was slow-going.</p><p>Some signs of discord have been clear for a while. If one reads between the lines one could have wondered what the point was even in 2016, but I expect there was hope that the two sides could get along. </p><p>In late May 2019 after the earnings presentation which marked the three year anniversary/deadline of a deal, and a new <a href="https://www.hitachi-transportsystem.com/en/ir/library/presentations/pdf/midtermmanagementplan_190524enR.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mid-Term Management Plan</a> "Logisteed 2021" in which the forward-looking part had basically no mention of SG or Sagawa, the Nikkei carried an interview with HTS President Nakatani who said, when asked about the integration, <em>"I am aware that we are moving toward integration. I would like to harmonize future directions." </em>[Nikkei: He showed a positive attitude...]<em> "We have decided to discuss and consider the possibility of business integration, but we have not made any decisions, including any start to discussions."</em></p><p>Three years on and there had obviously been discussions about discussions, but the two sides hadn't made any commitment to starting discussions officially. </p><h2>The NEW News</h2><p>Today mid-day, Diamond Online released a scoop saying the capital and business tie-up between the two was going to be scrapped. </p><p>The first reaction was to send Hitachi Transport shares down 10+%. </p><p>Hitachi Transport's first release to the exchange said that the article wasn't based on information they announced and that it was not going to be a dissolution of the capital tie-up, just a re-arranging of the deckchairs and a board meeting was going on and there would be an announcement within the day. HTS shares - which at that point were down 7% on the day - bounced sharply. </p><p>After the close it became clear there was a difference of opinion on what the "review of the level equity affiliation" actually meant. </p><p>The headline of the Hitachi Transport release says "Announcement of Partial Modification of the Strategic Capital and Business Alliance with SG Holdings and SAGAWA EXPRESS". It talks at some length about what has been accomplished in four and a half years of working together and then it notes the "modification of the capital tie-up."</p><ol>
<li>HTS will sell the 20% of Sagawa Express that it owns for ¥87.5bn. That trade will be executed on 29 Sep 2020. </li>
<li>HTS will buy back "a portion" of the shares that SG owns in a <a href="https://www.hitachi-transportsystem.com/jp/news/pdf/20200924_jikokabusikinoshutokukaituke.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ToSTNeT-3 transaction</a> the morning of 25 September. Reminder that SG owns 32.35mm shares of HTS or 29.00% of shares out. Tomorrow morning, HTS will buy back 27.675mm shares at the closing price on the 24 September of ¥3,570. That is up to 24.8% of shares out. </li>
</ol><p> That is a very big unwind in a very big hurry. </p><p>This creates some interesting side effects and they are well-worth thinking about. </p><p>More below the fold.</p>

At the end of March 2016, Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP),  Hitachi Transport System (9086 JP), and as-yet unlisted SG Holdings (9143 JP)announced that Hitachi Transport and SG subsidiary, and well-known door-to-door delivery unit Sagawa Express would form a capital and business tie-up and would look to merge "within three years" (i.e. merger by 1 April 2019). The deal was that Hitachi Transport was going to spend ¥66.3bn to buy a 20% stake in the unlisted delivery subsidiary of then still-unlisted SG Holdings, and Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP) was going to sell a 29% stake (out of the 59% they owned) in Hitachi Transport for ¥87.5 billion. They were both going to expand strongly outside of Asia.  HTS was known at the time for its 3PL and "Smart Logistics" capabilities to make customer supply chains more efficient, etc, whereas Sagawa was known as a top last-mile delivery business. The combined entity was set to overtake Yamato Holdings (9064 JP) in terms of revenue and get closer to industry top dog Nippon Express (9062 JP). It was supposed to help SG improve margins by doing more in B2B. SG IPOed in late 2017. Three years came and went. Nothing happened. There were collaborative projects started such as a "Japan-China integrated service" and "mutual utilisation of logistics facilities" such as e-commerce delivery hubs, but it was slow-going.Some signs of discord have been clear for a while. If one reads between the lines one could have wondered what the point was even in 2016, but I expect there was hope that the two sides could get along. In late May 2019 after the earnings presentation which marked the three year anniversary/deadline of a deal, and a new Mid-Term Management Plan "Logisteed 2021" in which the forward-looking part had basically no mention of SG or Sagawa, the Nikkei carried an interview with HTS President Nakatani who said, when asked about the integration, "I am aware that we are moving toward integration. I would like to harmonize future directions." [Nikkei: He showed a positive attitude...] "We have decided to discuss and consider the possibility of business integration, but we have not made any decisions, including any start to discussions."Three years on and there had obviously been discussions about discussions, but the two sides hadn't made any commitment to starting discussions officially. The NEW NewsToday mid-day, Diamond Online released a scoop saying the capital and business tie-up between the two was going to be scrapped. The first reaction was to send Hitachi Transport shares down 10+%. Hitachi Transport's first release to the exchange said that the article wasn't based on information they announced and that it was not going to be a dissolution of the capital tie-up, just a re-arranging of the deckchairs and a board meeting was going on and there would be an announcement within the day. HTS shares - which at that point were down 7% on the day - bounced sharply. After the close it became clear there was a difference of opinion on what the "review of the level equity affiliation" actually meant. The headline of the Hitachi Transport release says "Announcement of Partial Modification of the Strategic Capital and Business Alliance with SG Holdings and SAGAWA EXPRESS". It talks at some length about what has been accomplished in four and a half years of working together and then it notes the "modification of the capital tie-up."
HTS will sell the 20% of Sagawa Express that it owns for ¥87.5bn. That trade will be executed on 29 Sep 2020. 
HTS will buy back "a portion" of the shares that SG owns in a ToSTNeT-3 transaction the morning of 25 September. Reminder that SG owns 32.35mm shares of HTS or 29.00% of shares out. Tomorrow morning, HTS will buy back 27.675mm shares at the closing price on the 24 September of ¥3,570. That is up to 24.8% of shares out. 
 That is a very big unwind in a very big hurry. This creates some interesting side effects and they are well-worth thinking about. More below the fold.

Hitachi Transport & SG Holdings:  Consciously Uncoupling

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/068/original/2020-07-09_13-43-33.png?1594269841" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145068"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>WHAT CURRENCY RISK?</strong> - It seems rather old-fashioned to raise the topic of currency risk in relation to potential stressors on Japanese listed companies. Compared to the thirty-five years to 2015, the last five years have been a period of benign calm in the USD/JPY exchange rate, aided and abetted by the action of central banks to eliminate interest rates and the functioning of the bond markets. Most observers expect this currency stability regime to continue and COVID-19 has so far only seen one short 'blip' to ¥102.36 on 9th March.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/095/original/2020-07-09_15-04-02.png?1594274675" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145095"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>¥ BELOW 100</strong> -  If we isolate only the 1,484 days in the last forty years when Yen has traded above ¥100, the average TOPIX index is 975. The three Yen 'peaks' we have highlighted above in 1995, 2011, and 2016 proved excellent entry points. The subsequent trough-to-peak performance was 43%, 139%, and 60%, respectively. The COVID-19-induced trough-to-peak is, so far, just 31%.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/101/original/2020-07-09_15-13-11.png?1594275216" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145101"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>KEY DRIVER </strong>- Nevertheless, for an increasingly-global Japan, the USDJPY exchange rate remains a key driver of earnings. With a lag of six months, the peaks and troughs of the USDJPY exchange rate have coincided with turning points in the earnings cycle as measured by our Results &amp; Revision Score. The six-month lag suggests that ignoring the impact of COVID-19, the exchange rate is mildly supportive of earnings momentum for the balance of 2020.</p><hr><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>• CORRELATION ANALYSIS •</strong></p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/499/original/2020-07-12_12-55-49.png?1594526165" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145499"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/500/original/2020-07-12_13-13-53.png?1594527254" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145500"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><div class="content-caption"></div><p><strong>CORRELATIONS</strong> - Our analysis of the currency risk of specific companies will be in two parts. The first and simplest is to examine the long-term positive and negative correlations of each listed larger-capitalisation company against the US dollar and Euro for the split-adjusted share price. This analysis will yield some surprising results, including the positive US Dollar correlation of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nippon-express-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18582:1" rel="noopener">Nippon Express (9062 JP)</a>, while <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikon-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7117:1" rel="noopener">Nikon (7731 JP)</a> is negatively correlated. </p><hr><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>• THE FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION ADJUSTMENT •</strong></p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/502/original/2020-07-12_13-22-12.png?1594527750" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145502"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>FCTA </strong>- The second part is perhaps more abstruse, however but is a more accurate estimation of the actual currency risk embedded in the business model.  The Foreign Currency Translation Adjustment (FCTA) is part of Other Comprehensive Income and has been disclosed in Japanese GAAP-based balance sheets and income statements since 2001 and 2011, respectively to measure the extent of each company's global business and the embedded currency risk. The correlation of the aggregate FCTA for all non-financial companies is, as would be expected, reasonably tight. As these amounts are directly deducted from Net Assets for companies adopting JGAAP and from Shareholders' Equity for those companies reporting under SEC or IFRS standards, the impact on valuations cannot be ignored. For example, the decline in the US dollar from ¥123 to ¥101 in 2016 resulted in a six-quarter ¥53 trillion negative FCTA adjustment, 65% of the gap between Net Income and CITC over that period.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/273/original/2020-07-10_16-08-25.png?1594364929" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145273"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>CITC &amp; NET INCOME</strong> - Comprehensive Income adds a series of adjustments to Net Income to reflect as-yet-unrealised changes from currency translations, securities valuation differences, pensions, and deferred hedges. These adjustments are subsequently 'recycled' as and when realisations occur. In aggregate over the last seven years, Comprehensive Income has exceeded Net Income by a cumulative ¥56 trillion or 7%. However, as Comprehensive Income is inherently a more volatile data series, it is eschewed or overlooked by most analysts despite the direct impact on Shareholders' Equity. Nevertheless, Comprehensive Income illustrates that, as a result of increased globalisation and investments in marketable securities, the underlying earnings of Japanese corporates have become riskier than is implied by Net Income. In 2017, the FCTA resulted in an aggregate loss for Comprehensive Income to Common (CITC) and a corresponding decline in Shareholders' Equity for non-financial Japanese companies.  In the last two reported quarters, the 'gap' between Net Income and CITC has begun to widen again as both Valuation Differences and the FCTA have turned negative.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/447/original/2020-07-12_10-58-45.png?1594519146" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145447"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>FCTA BY SECTOR</strong> - Two-thirds of the total absolute FCTA over the last seven years comes from seven Sectors - <strong>Autos</strong>, <strong>Wholesale</strong>, <strong>Electrical Equipment</strong>,<strong> Technology Hardware</strong>, <strong>Machinery</strong>, <strong>Other Consumer Products</strong> and <strong>Telecommunications </strong>(Softbank Group). The least-exposed Sectors are<strong> Services</strong>, <strong>IT</strong> &amp;<strong> Internet</strong>,<strong> Multi-Industry</strong> and<strong> Restaurants</strong>.</p><hr><p>In the<strong> DETAIL</strong> section below, we shall look at the Accumulated Balance Sheet Foreign Currency Adjustments where <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/eisai-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21001:1" rel="noopener">Eisai Co Ltd (4523 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dic-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7343:1" rel="noopener">Dic Corp (4631 JP)</a> have the most significant amounts of positive and negative Accumulated FCTA's relative to Equity, respectively.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/448/original/2020-07-12_11-12-20.png?1594519955" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145448"></figure><div class="content-caption">
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/145/617/original/2020-07-13_15-35-04.png?1594622118" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="145617"></figure><p>Source • Japan Analytics</p>
</div><div class="content-highlight"><p><strong>This Part 6 concludes our Stress Test series. However, forthcoming Insights will look at the Valuation Differences component of Other Comprehensive Income and those companies with the most substantial CITC/Net Income 'gaps'.</strong></p></div>

Source • Japan AnalyticsWHAT CURRENCY RISK? - It seems rather old-fashioned to raise the topic of currency risk in relation to potential stressors on Japanese listed companies. Compared to the thirty-five years to 2015, the last five years have been a period of benign calm in the USD/JPY exchange rate, aided and abetted by the action of central banks to eliminate interest rates and the functioning of the bond markets. Most observers expect this currency stability regime to continue and COVID-19 has so far only seen one short 'blip' to ¥102.36 on 9th March.Source • Japan Analytics¥ BELOW 100 -  If we isolate only the 1,484 days in the last forty years when Yen has traded above ¥100, the average TOPIX index is 975. The three Yen 'peaks' we have highlighted above in 1995, 2011, and 2016 proved excellent entry points. The subsequent trough-to-peak performance was 43%, 139%, and 60%, respectively. The COVID-19-induced trough-to-peak is, so far, just 31%.Source • Japan AnalyticsKEY DRIVER - Nevertheless, for an increasingly-global Japan, the USDJPY exchange rate remains a key driver of earnings. With a lag of six months, the peaks and troughs of the USDJPY exchange rate have coincided with turning points in the earnings cycle as measured by our Results &amp; Revision Score. The six-month lag suggests that ignoring the impact of COVID-19, the exchange rate is mildly supportive of earnings momentum for the balance of 2020.• CORRELATION ANALYSIS •Source • Japan AnalyticsCORRELATIONS - Our analysis of the currency risk of specific companies will be in two parts. The first and simplest is to examine the long-term positive and negative correlations of each listed larger-capitalisation company against the US dollar and Euro for the split-adjusted share price. This analysis will yield some surprising results, including the positive US Dollar correlation of Nippon Express (9062 JP), while Nikon (7731 JP) is negatively correlated. • THE FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION ADJUSTMENT •Source • Japan AnalyticsFCTA - The second part is perhaps more abstruse, however but is a more accurate estimation of the actual currency risk embedded in the business model.  The Foreign Currency Translation Adjustment (FCTA) is part of Other Comprehensive Income and has been disclosed in Japanese GAAP-based balance sheets and income statements since 2001 and 2011, respectively to measure the extent of each company's global business and the embedded currency risk. The correlation of the aggregate FCTA for all non-financial companies is, as would be expected, reasonably tight. As these amounts are directly deducted from Net Assets for companies adopting JGAAP and from Shareholders' Equity for those companies reporting under SEC or IFRS standards, the impact on valuations cannot be ignored. For example, the decline in the US dollar from ¥123 to ¥101 in 2016 resulted in a six-quarter ¥53 trillion negative FCTA adjustment, 65% of the gap between Net Income and CITC over that period.Source • Japan AnalyticsCITC &amp; NET INCOME - Comprehensive Income adds a series of adjustments to Net Income to reflect as-yet-unrealised changes from currency translations, securities valuation differences, pensions, and deferred hedges. These adjustments are subsequently 'recycled' as and when realisations occur. In aggregate over the last seven years, Comprehensive Income has exceeded Net Income by a cumulative ¥56 trillion or 7%. However, as Comprehensive Income is inherently a more volatile data series, it is eschewed or overlooked by most analysts despite the direct impact on Shareholders' Equity. Nevertheless, Comprehensive Income illustrates that, as a result of increased globalisation and investments in marketable securities, the underlying earnings of Japanese corporates have become riskier than is implied by Net Income. In 2017, the FCTA resulted in an aggregate loss for Comprehensive Income to Common (CITC) and a corresponding decline in Shareholders' Equity for non-financial Japanese companies.  In the last two reported quarters, the 'gap' between Net Income and CITC has begun to widen again as both Valuation Differences and the FCTA have turned negative.Source • Japan AnalyticsFCTA BY SECTOR - Two-thirds of the total absolute FCTA over the last seven years comes from seven Sectors - Autos, Wholesale, Electrical Equipment, Technology Hardware, Machinery, Other Consumer Products and Telecommunications (Softbank Group). The least-exposed Sectors are Services, IT &amp; Internet, Multi-Industry and Restaurants.In the DETAIL section below, we shall look at the Accumulated Balance Sheet Foreign Currency Adjustments where Eisai Co Ltd (4523 JP) and Dic Corp (4631 JP) have the most significant amounts of positive and negative Accumulated FCTA's relative to Equity, respectively.
Source • Japan Analytics
This Part 6 concludes our Stress Test series. However, forthcoming Insights will look at the Valuation Differences component of Other Comprehensive Income and those companies with the most substantial CITC/Net Income 'gaps'.

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Stress Tests Part 6: Currency Risk

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/seino-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13248:1" rel="noopener">Seino Holdings (9076 JP)</a>, based in Gifu Prefecture (two prefectures east of Kyoto, directly north of Nagoya), is a combination transportation logistics company and car dealer, with a few other local specialties tacked on.</p><p>It has 10 auto sales branches in Gifu, Shiga (next door between Gifu and Kyoto), Aichi (just south), and Tokyo, plus a unit in the Philippines, and together they sell about US$1bn of autos a year. </p><p>Most of its transportation business is warehouses/logistics and truck transport but in the last couple of years it has started executing a "modal shift" to increase domestic transport by rail and ship. It has started working with partners to reduce its carbon footprint in everything it does. </p><h2>The NEW News</h2><p>Yesterday, the company reported its <a href="https://www.seino.co.jp/seino/media/pdf-lib/20200513-03.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full-year earnings</a> (Japanese only) to March 31, with revenue +1.4%yoy, OP -5.7%, and Net Profit +21%.</p><p>Somewhat unusually, it provided a forecast for the year to March 31, 2021. And it isn't pretty. Revenue is scheduled to drop 10.4%, OP is scheduled to drop nearly 55%, and Net Profit is guided to fall 71%. Given the quantum of this move, and given the fact that few of their customers seem willing to forecast their own revenues, this guidance has to be seen as speculative at best, even though it is the kind of company with extremely stable revenues normally. </p><p><strong>To mitigate the potential damage from this, the company announced (also only in Japanese) <a href="https://www.seino.co.jp/seino/media/pdf-lib/20200513-05.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a large buyback</a> today. A very large buyback. </strong></p><p>It is up to 20 million shares for up to 20 billion yen, to be executed between 14 May 2020 and 23 December 2020. The oddly-specific end-date is somewhat unusual, but it is possible this leaves room to buy back more shares if needed in fiscal Q4 if the shares remain under pressure. This is, after all, a VERY cash-rich company. </p>

Seino Holdings (9076 JP), based in Gifu Prefecture (two prefectures east of Kyoto, directly north of Nagoya), is a combination transportation logistics company and car dealer, with a few other local specialties tacked on.It has 10 auto sales branches in Gifu, Shiga (next door between Gifu and Kyoto), Aichi (just south), and Tokyo, plus a unit in the Philippines, and together they sell about US$1bn of autos a year. Most of its transportation business is warehouses/logistics and truck transport but in the last couple of years it has started executing a "modal shift" to increase domestic transport by rail and ship. It has started working with partners to reduce its carbon footprint in everything it does. The NEW NewsYesterday, the company reported its full-year earnings (Japanese only) to March 31, with revenue +1.4%yoy, OP -5.7%, and Net Profit +21%.Somewhat unusually, it provided a forecast for the year to March 31, 2021. And it isn't pretty. Revenue is scheduled to drop 10.4%, OP is scheduled to drop nearly 55%, and Net Profit is guided to fall 71%. Given the quantum of this move, and given the fact that few of their customers seem willing to forecast their own revenues, this guidance has to be seen as speculative at best, even though it is the kind of company with extremely stable revenues normally. To mitigate the potential damage from this, the company announced (also only in Japanese) a large buyback today. A very large buyback. It is up to 20 million shares for up to 20 billion yen, to be executed between 14 May 2020 and 23 December 2020. The oddly-specific end-date is somewhat unusual, but it is possible this leaves room to buy back more shares if needed in fiscal Q4 if the shares remain under pressure. This is, after all, a VERY cash-rich company. 

Seino Holdings (9076) - Delivering Cash Back in BIG BUYBACK, May Be an MBO Candidate

Japan

Nippon Express Holdings, Inc. offers logistics services. The Company provides freight vehicle transportation, railway transportation, air transportation, sea transportation, port transportation, warehousing, and other services. Nippon Express Holdings provides its services throughout Japan.

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Nippon Express Holdings (9147 JP)

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