In today’s briefing:
- HS Holdings (8699 JP) Buyback – Adds More to BVPS
- Japan Post Bank – Weak Yen, High Topix, US CLO’s, Many Moving Parts, Profit Risk
- Nikkei 225 Sep 2023 Review – The Mercari Conundrum
- Nitori: 33 Years of Revenue Growth
- Time-Buying and Political Agendas Prevent Effective Measures to Raise the % of Female Board Members
HS Holdings (8699 JP) Buyback – Adds More to BVPS
- HS Holdings (8699 JP) remains an interesting hodgepodge of assets. It owns just under 50% of Mongolia’s biggest bank, recently IPOed Khan Bank (KHAN MO).
- It has a pile of cash. And it has a glorified pawn shop business in Japan. The bank shares must be sold, to a significant degree, by end of year.
- Today it announced a buyback tomorrow of 6.4% of shares out. I expect it is one of two large individual holders. We’ll probably know more within a week.
Japan Post Bank – Weak Yen, High Topix, US CLO’s, Many Moving Parts, Profit Risk
- Japan Post Bank is no ordinary bank, without much loans, and mostly investments
- It is well-known for its US CLO exposure, but also moving more into private equity
- Many moving parts to the bank’s earnings, where we see downside risk on profit
Nikkei 225 Sep 2023 Review – The Mercari Conundrum
- Mercari Inc (4385 JP) is potentially a leading candidate for inclusion in the Nikkei 225 in September.
- There are other technical reasons to think it is not.
- This insight looks at the issue of why it might be a leading candidate and why it might not be.
Nitori: 33 Years of Revenue Growth
- Nitori, Japan’s largest furniture retailer, once again grew consolidated revenues in its extended financial year to March.
- Despite the increased costs of imports, profits also rose, although net profits saw a rare decline.
- The group still has strong growth potential: it continues to diversify, including into apparel, expand its omnichannel operations and is now building more stores overseas.
Time-Buying and Political Agendas Prevent Effective Measures to Raise the % of Female Board Members
- There is concern about how well one female board director’s opinion will be respected in management discussions among the large number of male board members.
- Since the pool of female managers in companies hasn’t grown, Corporate Governance Code will remain an “effort target” rather than a specific numerical standard for the ratio of female executives.
- The government does not want to spark discussion of a “quota system” in the “political” field, so discussions of introducing a “quota system” for female board members are not realistic.
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