Honda and Komatsu Net Rise, NTT DoCoMo to Buyback $4.9 B Shares

Hiruki Nakamura
25 Apr, 2014
New York City

Honda Motor reported fiscal sales increased 20% and net surged 56%. Komatsu said fiscal year net increased 26% on 3.6% rise in sales. NTT DoCoMo plans to buy back $4.9 billion of its shares and sell its stake in India based venture with Tata.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Honda Motor reported fiscal sales increased 20% and net surged 56%. Komatsu said fiscal year net increased 26% on 3.6% rise in sales. NTT DoCoMo plans to buy back $4.9 billion of its shares and sell its stake in India based venture with Tata.[/R]

Market indexes in Tokyo closed higher after choppy day of trading and for the week the Nikkei index declined 0.6%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 24.27 or 0.2% to 14,429.26 and the Topix index gained 5.09 to 1,169.99. For the week, Nikkei 225 fell 0.6%.

The yen closed at 102.37 against the U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp added 25 yen to 5,494 yen.

Honda Motor Co gained 35 yen to 3,470 yen after the automaker reported net sales in the year ending in March soared 19.9% to 11.84 trillion yen from 9.88 trillion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year surged 56.4% to 574.11 billion yen compared to 367.15 billion yen a year earlier.

For the fourth-quarter, Honda said revenue climbed 13.6% to 4.50 trillion yen and net income jumped 125.2% to 170.5 billion yen from a year ago period.

The company said quarterly dividend for the fiscal fourth quarter will be 22 yen per share, an increase of 3 yen from the same period last year.

Honda estimated total cash dividends for the fiscal year of 82 yen per share, an increase of 6 yen per share from the previous fiscal year.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd fell 0.9% to 882 yen.

Sony slipped 23 yen to 1,836 yen after the electronic products maker said Thursday it has set up a fully owned real estate unit, serving individuals and corporate customers and will start business on August 1.

Sony launched a new real estate unit and plans to go public in three years and targeted annual sales of 50 billion yen in five years.

Softbank Corp slid 7 yen to 7,734 yen. Fast Retailing Co Ltd slipped 105 yen to 32,770 yen.

Komatsu Ltd increased 0.4% to 2,151 yen after the Japan-based construction machinery and vehicles seller said net sales in the year ending in March jumped 3.6% to 1.95 trillion yen from 1.88 trillion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year climbed 26.3% to 159.5 billion yen compared to 126.3 billion yen and diluted earnings per share jumped to 167.18 yen from 132.51 yen a year earlier.

NTT Docomo Inc rose 0.8% to 1,573 yen after the mobile and Internet services provider plans to sell its entire stake of 26.5% in India-based Tata Teleservices Ltd. The telecom carrier will buy back approx 320 million or about 7.7% of its shares through repurchasing plan extending from tomorrow.

In addition, the company will spend as much as 500 billion yen or $4.9 billion to buy back its shares in Tokyo.

NTT Docomo today reported net sales in the year ending in March slid 0.2% to 4.46 trillion yen from 4.47 trillion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year declined 5.4% to 464.73 billion yen compared to 491.03 billion yen and earnings per share fell to 112.07 yen from 118.41 yen a year earlier.