Nikkei in Tokyo Drops 2.9%, Softbank Plunges 5%

Hiruki Nakamura
07 May, 2014
New York City

Indexes in Tokyo plunged nearly 3% and the yen gained after a 4-day weekend in Japan. Automakers and electronics exporters declined. Softbank plunged 5% after quarterly results were weaker than expected and wireless carrier said it does not plan to sell its stake in Alibaba public offering.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Indexes in Tokyo plunged nearly 3% and the yen gained after a 4-day weekend in Japan. Automakers and electronics exporters declined. Softbank plunged 5% after quarterly results were weaker than expected and wireless carrier said it does not plan to sell its stake in Alibaba public offering.[/R]

Market indexes in Tokyo plunged after a 4-day weekend and the yen gained after tensions rose between Russia and Ukraine.

The talks of war between NATO member nations and Russia also dented the sentiment.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 424.06 or 2.9% to 14,033.45 and the Topix index dropped 30.47 or 2.6% to 1,152.01.

The yen closed at 101.47 against the U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Toyota Motor Corp slumped 120 yen to 5,511 yen. Honda Motor Co dropped 101 yen to 3,371 yen. Nissan Motor Co Ltd declined 2.9% to 858 yen.

Sony decreased 40 yen to 1,760 yen.

Softbank Corp plunged 399 yen or 5.1% to 7,420 yen after the wireless carrier reported net sales in the year ending in March surged 108.2% to 6.67 trillion yen from 3.20 trillion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year climbed 41.5% to 527.03 billion yen compared to 372.5 billion yen and diluted earnings per share jumped to 440.37 yen from 328.08 yen a year earlier.

The company said operating income in the year climbed 35.8% to 1,085.4 billion yen from 799.40 billion yen a year ago.

Softbank added sales increased in the year mainly due to the 2.60 trillion yen in sales at the newly added Sprint segment from the second quarter.

The company forecasted net sales in fiscal-year ending in 2015 of 8 trillion yen and operating income of 1 trillion yen.

The mobile operator said it does not plan to sell any part of its stake in Alibaba in the upcoming initial public offering.

Fast Retailing Co Ltd plummeted 1,090 yen or 3.4% to 30,950 yen.

Hoya Corporation jumped 1.8% to 3,111 yen after the Japan-based healthcare and medical products maker reported total revenue in the fourth-quarter ending in March jumped 19.9% to 115.2 billion yen from 96.09 billion yen a year ago period.

Profit in the quarter plunged 47.5% to 12.73 billion yen compared to 24.25 billion yen and diluted earnings per share dropped to 29.39 yen from 56.18 yen a year ago.

Japan Radio Co., Ltd rose 0.7% to 406 yen after the Japan-based wireless communications device maker said net sales in the year ending in March rose 3.8% to 113.3 billion yen from 109.2 billion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year tumbled to 16.77 billion yen compared to 67.11 billion yen and diluted earnings per share declined to 4.7 yen from 20.2 yen a year earlier.

Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd gained 0.4% to 3,560 yen after the beverages and food maker reported net sales in the year ending in March soared 23.2% to 271.2 billion yen from 220.1 billion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year edged up 0.8% to 2.87 billion yen compared to 2.85 billion yen and earnings per share slipped to 9.31 yen from 13.21 yen a year earlier.