Daily Brief Japan: Anycolor , Hopson Development, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) ADR, Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix, Visional and more

• Nine months ago I first wrote on Anycolor (5032 JP). I thought the guidance growth pattern and valuations remarkable. Results handily beat guidance. Now we’re in Year 2 of guidance.
• After the first full year listed, FY2024 guidance was for +30% in revenue to ¥33bn, and +35% growth in OP. For Q1, reported yesterday, actual results were +51% and +91%.
• The stock is popping this AM, but it is still cheap vs growth rates and margins. There are, notably, still “context issues” here. They merit some consideration (and investigation).

Lucror Analytics Weekly Wraps provide an overview of all Morning Views comments and reports published by our analyst team in the past week, and also showcase a list of the most-read reports.

In this Insight:

1. Softbank Group
2. China SCE
3. Sino-Ocean Group
4. China Jinmao Holdings
5. Geely Auto

and more…

• Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. delivered a solid result and managed an all-around beat last quarter.
• Despite increased G&A expenses, the company managed to rebound in terms of NOP, reaching a level before the introduction of negative interest rates.
• We give Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. a ‘Hold’ rating with a revised target price.

• The GPIF employs a “passive enhanced engagement” approach, which is linked to TOPIX and engages in engagement activities with the portfolio companies. This approach should be examined for any challenges.
• The challenge is whether GPIF’s extremely low management fees can engage in deep engagement with a large number of portfolio companies to reduce tracking error from TOPIX.
• GPIF cites its inability to invest in equities in-house and the huge AUM as reasons for its bias toward passive funds. If this is an obstacle, reform should be considered.

• Visional (4194 JP)‘s 4QFY07/23 revenue missed consensus by 0.2% despite revenues increasing 22.1% YoY to 14.73bn. Operating profit beat consensus by a huge margin of 21%.
• Though revenue growth has slowed down, BizReach has maintained its steady performance while HRMOS continues to see strong growth with significant reduction in operating losses.
• The company’s share price moved up by more than 5% following its earnings announcement and Visional remains our top pick in the Japanese HR space.