Earnings Season in Japan Gathers Pace, Current Account Surplus Jumps 50%

Hiruki Nakamura
04 Aug, 2015
New York City

Earnings season in Japan picked up momentum as trading companies reported shrinking revenues and rising profits. Yen held firm as monetary base in July jumped 32.8% from a year ago. Current account surplus surged nearly 50%.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Earnings season in Japan picked up momentum as trading companies reported shrinking revenues and rising profits. Yen held firm as monetary base in July jumped 32.8% from a year ago. Current account surplus surged nearly 50%.[/R]

Earnings season in Tokyo picked up and trading, engineering and technology companies reported mixed results.

The monetary base in July soared 32.8% to 325.74 trillion yen after 34.2% decline in June, the Bank of Japan said.

Current account balances surged 49.5% and adjusted monetary base climbed 25.6% from a year ago month.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 27.75 or 0.2% to 20,520.36 and the broader Topix index edged up 0.23 to 1,659.83.

The yen eased to 124 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

IHI Corporation declined 6.7% to 462 yen after the diversified conglomerate said net sales in the first-quarter ending in June climbed 21.2% to 340.76 billion yen from 281.27 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to a loss of 48 million yen compared to profit of 6.53 billion yen and diluted loss per share swung to 0.03 yen from diluted earnings per share of 4.23 yen the same period a year ago.

For the first-half, IHI forecasted net sales to jump 13.6% to 700 billion yen but net income to decline 71.4% to 6 billion yen.

For the year, IHI estimated net sales to climb 8.5% to 1.58 trillion yen and net income to surge 329.4% to 39 billion yen.

Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd gained 0.8% to 2,338 yen after the petrochemical company reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in June plunged 22.2% to 922.79 billion yen from 1.19 trillion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 24.1% to 11.39 billion yen compared to 9.18 billion yen and diluted earnings per share jumped to 71.21 yen from 57.37 yen the same period a year ago.

Idemitsu forecasted net sales for the first-half ending in September to decline 13.9% to 2.08 trillion yen and net income to decrease 4.2% to 18 billion yen.

For the year, the company forecasted net sales to drop 6% to 4.35 trillion yen and net income of about 56 billion yen.

Itochu Corp slipped 1.1% to 1,484.50 yen after the diversified trading company said net sales in the first-quarter ending in June slumped 4.9% to 1.26 trillion yen from 1.32 trillion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 50.3% to 121.46 billion yen compared to 80.84 billion yen and diluted earnings per share climbed to 75.48 yen from 48.89 yen the same period a year ago.

The company forecasted revenues in the year ending in March to edge up 0.2% to 5.60 trillion yen and net income to jump 9.8% to 330 billion yen.

Mitsubishi Corporation plummeted 6.9% to 2,467 yen after the trading company reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in June dropped 3.9% to 1.82 trillion yen from 1.89 trillion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 31.9% to 74.95 billion yen compared to 110.06 billion yen and diluted earnings per share declined to 46.20 yen from 66.81 yen the same period a year ago.

Mitsubishi forecasted net income for the year to plunge 10.1% to 360 billion yen.

Maruha Nichiro Corp plunged 7.4% to 1,913 yen after the marine product producer said net sales in the first-quarter ending in June jumped 4.9% to 215.29 billion yen from 205.28 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 44.3% to 2.18 billion yen compared to 3.91 billion yen and diluted earnings per share declined to 41.34 yen from 78.93 yen the same period a year ago.

For the year, Maruha Nichiro forecasted net sales to increase 4.2% to 900 billion yen and net income to drop 3% to 7 billion yen.

Sankyo Co., Ltd rose 0.1% to 4,760 yen after the pachinko machines maker reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in June surged 73.8% to 35.95 billion yen from 20.69 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to profit 4.28 billion yen compared to a loss of 1.05 billion yen and diluted earnings per share swung to 50.05 yen compared to a diluted loss per share of 10.76 yen the same period a year ago.

Sankyo estimated sales for the year to jump 2.3% to 150 billion yen and net soared 14.6% to 10 billion yen.