Monday 6th November 2023
Source: FT, “Hiromi Yamaji: The banker turned stock exchange boss rattling Japan’s listed companies“
Main takeaways:
1. JPX boss plans to create a published list of companies that have stated they will make improvements, on 15th Jan 2023.
2. 50% of stocks on the Japanese exchange (TSE) have a price to book ratio less than 1.0. This compares to 5% in S&P 500 and 19% in Stoxx 600.
3. To raise PBRs Japanese companies have been launching share buybacks, selling non-core assets and appointing independent directors.
4. Buybacks and dividends in Japan hit an all time high of 25 tn Yen
5. Japanese Topix is up 20% this year, vs. SPX +14% and STOXX 600 +3.5%
The Equity Analyst 