A man wearing a facial mask, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, stands in front of an electric board showing Nikkei (top in C) and other countries stock index outside a brokerage at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, January 4, 2021.
Activists are back in Japan and they’re zeroing in on hoarded reserves as the country’s annual general meeting season kicks off. Last year, they went easy, dropping many demands as companies battled the pandemic. But of the 17 campaigns counted so far by analyst Nick Smith of CLSA, 10 call for higher dividends, six want cross-shareholdings to be sold and four are looking for buybacks. Small wonder: two-fifths of non-financial stocks in the top-tier Topix index have net cash worth more than a fifth of their equity – a new record, says Smith.
Many of the targets are mid-caps. One of them hasn’t managed a 5% return on equity since the mid-1990s. Another property owner has an uncomfortably cosy relationship with its top tenant, the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The numbers are a reminder to investors of how far governance reforms began under former prime minister Shinzo Abe still have to go. (By Jennifer Hughes)
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