Noumura Net Surges, Softbank to Invest $10 B in E-commerce Sites in India

Hiruki Nakamura
28 Oct, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo halted a 2-day rally and market indexes eased after resource sector stocks declined. Nomura Holdings reported better than expected second-quarter earnings on higher broking and trading revenues. Softbank Corp plans to invest $627 million in India based Snapdeal.com.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo halted a 2-day rally and market indexes eased after resource sector stocks declined. Nomura Holdings reported better than expected second-quarter earnings on higher broking and trading revenues. Softbank Corp plans to invest $627 million in India based Snapdeal.com.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower after rising for two days in a row and resource linked stocks fell following the weakness in regional trading.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said retail sales in September climbed 2.3% to 11.24 trillion yen following 1.2% increase in August.

Sales from large retailers rose 0.5% to 1.531 trillion yen compared to increase of 1.6% in the previous month.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 58.81 or 0.4% to 15,329.91 and the broader Topix index slid 2.28 to 1,252.

The yen closed at 108.04 against one dollar.

Stocks in Review

Honda Motor Co Ltd fell 0.7% to 3,306 yen after the automobile company reported revenue in the first-half ending in September jumped 4.3% to 3.01 trillion yen from 2.89 trillion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the period climbed 17.9% to 141.9 billion yen compared to 120.4 billion yen and earnings per share increased to 78.73 yen from 66.79 yen in the same period of a year ago.

The company lowered its annual net profit forecast to drop 1.6% to 565 billion yen.

For the year ending in March 2015, the company revised revenue guidance to 12.75 trillion yen from the earlier forecast of 12.80 trillion yen.

In the quarter, Honda sold 1.07 million vehicles compared to 1.05 million in the year ago period.

JFE Holdings, Inc climbed 2.5% to 2,013.50 yen after the steel products maker said net sales in the first-half ending in September increased 6.9% to 1.85 trillion yen from 1.73 trillion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the period soared 9.5% to 52.35 billion yen compared to 47.79 billion yen and earnings per share rose to 90.75 yen from 82.81 yen in the same period of a year ago.

Kajima Corp decreased 6% to 482 yen after the construction services provider lowered its fiscal year net income estimate to 14 billion yen from 17 billion yen.

Nomura Holdings, Inc rose 0.5% to 609.60 yen after the securities broker and financial service provider reported net revenue in the first-half ending in September declined 5% to 744.7 billion yen from 787.7 billion yen a year ago period.

Net income in the period tumbled 30.1% to 72.7 billion yen compared to 104 billion yen and diluted earnings per share declined to 19.34 yen from 27.20 yen in the same period of a year ago.

Softbank Corp edged down 0.05% to 7,418 yen and the telecom company agreed to invest India-based online marketplace operator Snapdeal.com with total investment of $627 million.

SoftBank, said in next 10-years it will invest about $10 billion in the e-commerce sector of India.

In a separate deal today, SoftBank agreed to investment $210 million in Mumbai-based ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd that owns a mobile application for taxi bookings.