Daily Brief Japan: Astellas Pharma, Arcland Service, Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix and more

In today’s briefing:

Astellas Pharma (4503 JP): FY23 Result and FY24 Guidance Meet Expectation; New Drugs Hold Key
(Mostly) Asia M&A, April 2023: Arcland Service, Lian Beng, Silk Laser, Breaker Resources, Blackmores
The Reasons for the Criteria Selected for the Directors’ Skills Matrix Are Still Unclear

Astellas Pharma (4503 JP): FY23 Result and FY24 Guidance Meet Expectation; New Drugs Hold Key

Astellas Pharma (4503 JP) recorded 17% growth in revenue to ¥1,519B in FY23, driven by 24% growth of Xtandi. Core operating profit grew 17% and core net profit increased 18%.
The company has guided for flat revenue and core operating profit for FY24, mainly due to negative impact of Fx.
Astellas expects to obtain FDA approval for fezolinetant for vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause in May 2023. The company will file for marketing approval for zolbetuximab in Q1FY24.

For the month of April, 6 new deals (firm and non-binding) were discussed on Smartkarma with an overall announced deal size of ~US$3bn.
The average premium for the new deals announced (or first discussed) in April was 23%.
This compares to the average premium for all deals in 2022 (106 deals), 2021 (165 deals), 2020 (158 deals), and 2019 (145 deals) of 41%, 33%, 31%, and 31% respectively.

The rapid spread of companies, especially large companies, disclosing the skills matrix was triggered by Supplemental Principle 4-11-(i), which was added to the Corporate Governance Code.
While more companies focus disclosure on skills matrix of directors, it’s questionable whether these criteria have been validated to select those who can help expand the value of the company.
The process should ensure that the nomination process is based on the skills needed to run the company, not on who is close to the president of the company.

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