Nikkei Falls; Toshiba and Honda Announce Earnings Adjustments

Hiruki Nakamura
15 Jun, 2015
New York City

Nikkei average closed down and the yen traded weak in listless trading. Honda Motor announced a charge to cover recall of airbags. Toshiba identified more accounting irregularities.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei average closed down and the yen traded weak in listless trading. Honda Motor announced a charge to cover recall of airbags. Toshiba identified more accounting irregularities.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo closed down and the yen hovered near its recent low as Honda and Toshiba announced earnings adjustments.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 19.29 to 20,387.79 and the broader Topix index edged up 0.44 to 1,651.92.

The yen closed at 123.51 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Honda Motor Co Ltd slipped 1.4% to 4,075 yen after the auto maker said that it would restate its financial results by an additional $363 million in spending due to charges related to a U.S. recall of vehicles with the faulty Takata supplied airbags.

The automaker said revised earnings will be released by the end of this month and are not expected to affect the dividend or forecast for the current fiscal year.

Separately, the company said it will launch its most expensive motorcycle priced at 21.9 million yen in mid-July.

J. Front Retailing Co Ltd gained 1.7% to 2,265 yen after the department store operator said total sales in May declined 10.3% after rising 16.6% in April and edged up 0.1% in three-months ending in May.

The retailer said sales wholesale business segment dropped 7.4% compared to 26.6% increase in previous month and sales in credit business edged down 3.2% from 3.4% growth in April.

Toshiba Corporation closed unchanged at 444.70 yen after the diversified company identified 15 new cases of inappropriate accounting issues and said that the electronics group will have to revise past operating profits by 3.6 billion yen.

The latest findings from internal investigation brought the number of accounting irregularities to 24 and the size of its operating profit corrections to 54.8 billion yen, the conglomerate said on Friday.

The number of accounting irregularities by a third-party panel detected 12 cases of suspected accounts between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2013.

Due to the accounting irregularities, Toshiba delayed its earnings release.

Takashimaya Company, Limited rose 0.3% to 1,144 yen after the department store operator said sales in May surged 10% and sales at four regional stores in Okayama, Gifu, Yonago and Takasaki climbed 9.7%.

Sales in the Western region jumped 7.9% and total sales in the month increased 4%.

Corporate segment sales soared 7.6% while sales from the cross-media business segment advanced 29.3%.

Top REIT, Inc added 0.2% to 513,000 yen after the real estate developer reported net sales in the second-half ending in April dropped 3.1% to 5.61 billion yen from 5.79 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the period declined 6.3% to 1.83 billion yen from 1.95 billion yen and earnings per share slipped to 10.40 yen from 11.11 yen in the same period a year ago.

Usen Corporation fell 0.3% to 351 yen after the Nikkei business daily said the digital music provider’s operating profit for the nine-month period ending in May is expected to jump 9% to 7.5 billion yen and sales to be a flat at about 52.5 billion yen.

Usen forecasted pre-tax profit for the current fiscal year ending in August to drop 4% to 8 billion yen.