Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks, Windamee Research

J. Brian Waterhouse

J. Brian Waterhouse has been covering the Japanese financial sector as an analyst continuously since 1976, working for CLSA, Japaninvest, Rabobank, HSBC Securities, James Capel, Marine Midland Bank of New York and National & Grindlays Bank.  He has been ranked No.1 overall in Japanese banks research in Japan by Asiamoney for 6 of the past 9 years and was runner-up in 2015.  He was awarded the coveted Starmine prize as top Japanese bank stock picker in 2012 and 2014 and was runner-up in 2013.  He frequently appears on TV, radio and in international print media as a commentator on Japanese banking.

Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks

Gunma Bank  (8334 JP):  Compressed Guidance

Hachijuni Bank (8359 JP): Cheap with Good Reason

Chiba Bank (8331 JP):  Chiba 'n Cheerful

Windamee Research

Japanese Banks

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>Interim results for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gunma-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15777:1" rel="noopener">Gunma Bank (8334 JP)</a><em>, </em>the dominant bank in Gunma Prefecture northwest of the Japanese capital Tokyo, comfortably beat the bank’s own guidance despite hefty COVID-19-related loan loss provisioning taken in 1Q.  The bank has left its full-year guidance unchanged, expecting consolidated net profits of ¥20.5 billion, or ¥49/share, with dividends for the year of ¥13/share, suggesting a dividend payout ratio of around 27%.  On a prospective PER (using the bank’s revised guidance) of 7.0x and a low PBR of 0.30x, the stock remains inexpensive against peers despite having risen some 30% since touching a 2020 low in mid-March.  Surprisingly, foreign investors own in aggregate less than 18% of this undervalued Japanese regional bank.  Worth considering.</p>

Interim results for Gunma Bank (8334 JP), the dominant bank in Gunma Prefecture northwest of the Japanese capital Tokyo, comfortably beat the bank’s own guidance despite hefty COVID-19-related loan loss provisioning taken in 1Q.  The bank has left its full-year guidance unchanged, expecting consolidated net profits of ¥20.5 billion, or ¥49/share, with dividends for the year of ¥13/share, suggesting a dividend payout ratio of around 27%.  On a prospective PER (using the bank’s revised guidance) of 7.0x and a low PBR of 0.30x, the stock remains inexpensive against peers despite having risen some 30% since touching a 2020 low in mid-March.  Surprisingly, foreign investors own in aggregate less than 18% of this undervalued Japanese regional bank.  Worth considering.

Gunma Bank (8334 JP):  Hiding in Plain Sight