Convenience Store Sales in Japan Rise

123jump.com Staff
23 Feb, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo declined on active trading after SFCG filed for bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy by a publicly traded company in seven years. In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5%. The convenience store sales increased 7% in January on rising sales of tobacco.

[R]5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - The convenience store sales rise 7% in January. SFCG Co files for bankruptcy with 338 billion yen liabilities.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo declined on active trading after SFCG filed for bankruptcy, becoming the biggest bankruptcy by a publicly traded company in seven years.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5% or 40.22 to 7,376.16, and the broader Topix Index lost 0.6% or 4.25 to 735.28.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 21.3 billion shares worth 1.2 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 243 million shares valued at 2.1 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks, 80 rose, 135 declined, and 10 were unchanged. Sumitomo Metal Mining led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 6.5% after gold prices jumped 2.6% to $1,002 per ounce.

Convenience Store Sales Rise 7% in January

Japan''s Franchise Association reported on Friday last week that the convenience store sales increased 7% in January on rising sales of tobacco.

Sales of prepared foods rose 33.2%, packaged foods increased 29.7%, non-foods 32.8%, and services gained 4.3%.

Warm weather in northern and eastern Japan also increased sales of soft drinks and ice cream.

However sales per customer fell 0.5% to 595.5 yen in the period.

The report also notes that 975.7 million visits were made to convenience stores in Japan in the period.

SFCG Co Files For Bankruptcy with 338 billion yen Liabilities

Japanese lender SFCG Co. filed for bankruptcy with 338 billion yen liabilities, the largest bankruptcy by a publicly traded company in seven years.

SFCG also noted that the lender has a total of 41 billion yen in outstanding convertible bonds.

According to chairman of the company Kanshin Ohshima, funding dried up
after the collapse of Urban Corp. in August last year. The company further said it is finding it increasingly difficult to collect loans.

Gainers & Losers

Sumitomo Metal Mining led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 6.5% followed by increases in Mitsui Mining & Smelting of 4.3%, in Mitsubishi Materials of 3.4%, in OKI Electric Industries of 3.8%, and Kuraray Co. Ltd. of 3.5%.

Commodity-related stocks rose after gold prices soared 2.6% to $1,002 per ounce.

Credit Saison led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a decline of 11.4% followed by losses in Sapporo Holdings of 9%, in Shinsei Bank Ltd. of 7.6%, in Chiyoda Corp. of 6.6%, and Toshiba Corp.of 6.5%.

Nomura Holdings to Issue 716 million New Shares

Nikkei News reported today that Nomura Holdings Inc. has decided to issue a total of 716.4 million news shares.