In today’s briefing:
- Toshiba Board Ructions as Independent Director Goes Rogue
- Softbank Group – China Bounce Erases a Week of Losses
- Toshiba – Zage News
- Rakuten Group (Neutral) – Bank IPO a Step Towards Unlocking Fintech but Mobile Worries Remain
- LINE Gift: The Next Stage
Toshiba Board Ructions as Independent Director Goes Rogue
- There is a Toshiba Corp (6502 JP) EGM next week for shareholders to vote on the company’s Separation Plan, with a shareholder proposal to re-engage take-private buyers.
- Four+ weeks ago, the Board unanimously supported the first, and unanimously opposed the second, and shareholders and major proxy advisors came out against the first.
- Now Independent Director Raymond Zage, originally from one of the dissenting shareholders, has written a letter stating he has voted FOR the shareholder proposal the board rejected. OOPS! 🤭
Softbank Group – China Bounce Erases a Week of Losses
- Softbank is a $23bn winner on the China bounce as Alibaba (+37% over 2 days, $18bn) and Vision Fund (+$4.8bn) recovered from selling pressure over the last week
- Improving sentiment aside the discount remains above 50% and the rebound appears to be more about correcting excess selling than a change in market outlook
- We remain wary of Chinese exposure in the near-term on political, regulatory and economic risks although the worst appears to be over for now
Toshiba – Zage News
- The announcement from Raymond Zage that he would vote for 3D’s proposal at next week’s EGM is a curious development.
- It suggests that pressure on Toshiba’s directors could be ramping up significantly.
- Whether that is a good thing or not is a serious question though.
Rakuten Group (Neutral) – Bank IPO a Step Towards Unlocking Fintech but Mobile Worries Remain
- The pending IPO of Rakuten Bank could be worth ¥380bn (2x book) and boosts appreciation of a fintech business we think is worth ¥1,400/share
- That is well above the current share price reflecting the valuation drag of an expensive mobile segment, which is expected to hit peak losses in Q1 22
- We expect mobile break-even will take longer than expected and downside here offsets fintech excitement – we remain at Neutral
LINE Gift: The Next Stage
- LINE Gift has doubled its user base to 20 million in a year, and added merchants like Seven Eleven, but isn’t content with this.
- It has only just integrated with Zozo and Yahoo Shopping and expects these new partners, as well as new TV ad campaigns, to deliver a major increase in user numbers.
- The collaboration with Z Holdings’ through Yahoo Shopping and Zozo shows the potential for leveraging the groups’ huge user base.
Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
