Daily Brief Financials: Bank of Kyoto, Star Asia Investment, Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200, Yanlord Land, Curve DAO Token, Law Debenture Corp Plc/Fund and more

• Bank of Kyoto (8369 JP) has been on a relative tear recently. This is a bit surprising.  On a static equity-portfolio discount measure, it has outperformed regional banks.
• On a static regional bank PBR basis, it has outperformed its equity portfolio and the discount to the After Tax Equity Portfolio Value (ATEPV) is the smallest in eight years.
• Is there a sea change? There is a possibility, however remote, that domestic investor disappointment rears its voting head. That’s the dream scenario. But I don’t see it coming soon.

• Star Asia Investment (3468 JP) is looking to raise around US$180m in its extended primary follow-on raising. The proceeds will be used to acquire 12 new hotels.
• The deal would be a large deal to digest at 110 days of three month ADV, with the new shares representing around 19% of dilution.
• The REIT has undertaken capital raisings over the past few years to fund its active portfolio management strategy. Thus, we would argue that the deal here is well flagged. 

• The KOSPI 200 index last week closed down (CC=-1). This particular pattern is very bullish: 78% of the time the index closes the week up after -1 week down.
• The index has been stuck sideways between 348 and 330 for weeks, we still see a buy-the-dip opportunity to ride the continuation of the Bull run from here.
• Main support area to go LONG, based on the Market Reversal Matrix’s readings, is between 337 and 335. Time+space estimated probability of success is between 64% and 76%.

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.

• Yanlord Land

• Curve’s 3pool and Uniswap V3’s main USDT-USDC pool both became imbalanced heading into the weekend as USDT selling escalated.
• However, this trend actually started in mid-July, with $100mn net selling on Uniswap from July 15 to July 22.
• While the net selling eased in the last few weeks of July, it picked up again on July 31, the day after the Curve exploit (these two events seem to be unrelated).

The Law Debenture Corporation (LWDB) continued to successfully navigate challenging conditions in H123, growing its professional services business (IPS) in line with its mid to high single-digit target, while consolidating its strong, long-term performance record. This rare combination of a UK investment trust and the cash-generative IPS operating business has delivered outperformance of its broad UK equity benchmark over multiple periods with a strong record of dividend growth.