Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks, Windamee Research

J. Brian Waterhouse

Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks

Windamee Research

Japanese Banks

Equity Bottom-Up

Prestidigitation, or sleight of hand, is what stage magicians use to create their illusions, to the delight of the onlookers who are beguiled into looking elsewhere at a crucial moment in the conjuring trick when they might otherwise spot what the ‘magician’ is really doing.FY3/2021 results for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hachijuni-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20244:1" rel="noopener">Hachijuni Bank (8359 JP)</a> are, at first glance, impressive.  In difficult trading conditions, consolidated net profits sailed past the bank’s guidance by over 24% to ¥22.3 billion (a +1.4% YoY improvement over FY3/2020).  Management has generously raised the final dividend by 33% from ¥6/share to ¥8/share. But this was simply continuing a dividend policy that management has practiced most years since FY3/2017: a ¥6/share interim dividend and an ¥8/share final dividend.  Let us not forget that guidance for FY3/2021 was withheld by management until 30 October 2020, so well into the financial year.  And bottom-line profits relied heavily on ¥6.3 billion in 2nd Half gains from  ‘selling the family silver’, namely realizing gains on part of the bank’s share portfolio as global stock markets fortuitously rose.  Moreover, trading gains of ¥9.9 billion were needed to offset a six-fold rise in credit costs from ¥1.4 billion to ¥9.3 billion because the bank’s collection of non-performing loans rose by 29.3% to ¥101.1 billion in a single year: primarily in loans in ‘high risk’ categories.  The quality of reported profits is indeed strained.In terms of balance-sheet efficiency, the bank’s return on assets (RoA) has deteriorated further to just 20bps, while its return on equity (RoE) is a risible 2.70%.  With flat profits being forecast for FY3/2022, and trading on an unremarkable PER of 8.1x, there are far better investments in the Japanese banking sector than this.  For those who are not yet holders of Hachijuni Bank stock but may have noticed the apparent strong recovery in the bank’s profitability according to its FY3/2021 financial statements, our position is clear: Caveat emptor! (May the buyer beware!)

Prestidigitation, or sleight of hand, is what stage magicians use to create their illusions, to the delight of the onlookers who are beguiled into looking elsewhere at a crucial moment in the conjuring trick when they might otherwise spot what the ‘magician’ is really doing.FY3/2021 results for Hachijuni Bank (8359 JP) are, at first glance, impressive.  In difficult trading conditions, consolidated net profits sailed past the bank’s guidance by over 24% to ¥22.3 billion (a +1.4% YoY improvement over FY3/2020).  Management has generously raised the final dividend by 33% from ¥6/share to ¥8/share. But this was simply continuing a dividend policy that management has practiced most years since FY3/2017: a ¥6/share interim dividend and an ¥8/share final dividend.  Let us not forget that guidance for FY3/2021 was withheld by management until 30 October 2020, so well into the financial year.  And bottom-line profits relied heavily on ¥6.3 billion in 2nd Half gains from  ‘selling the family silver’, namely realizing gains on part of the bank’s share portfolio as global stock markets fortuitously rose.  Moreover, trading gains of ¥9.9 billion were needed to offset a six-fold rise in credit costs from ¥1.4 billion to ¥9.3 billion because the bank’s collection of non-performing loans rose by 29.3% to ¥101.1 billion in a single year: primarily in loans in ‘high risk’ categories.  The quality of reported profits is indeed strained.In terms of balance-sheet efficiency, the bank’s return on assets (RoA) has deteriorated further to just 20bps, while its return on equity (RoE) is a risible 2.70%.  With flat profits being forecast for FY3/2022, and trading on an unremarkable PER of 8.1x, there are far better investments in the Japanese banking sector than this.  For those who are not yet holders of Hachijuni Bank stock but may have noticed the apparent strong recovery in the bank’s profitability according to its FY3/2021 financial statements, our position is clear: Caveat emptor! (May the buyer beware!)  

Hachijuni Bank (8359 JP):  A Case of Prestidigitation?

Concordia Financial Group, Ltd / Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/concordia-financial-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22704:1" rel="noopener">Concordia Financial Group, Ltd (7186 JP)</a>, or CFG, has slashed its FY3/3021 guidance by 36.7% to ¥25.3 billion and is now expecting EPS of just ¥20.97 against previous guidance of ¥33.15.  There are two principal causes: writing down an investment in a bear fund that went dramatically wrong in a rising market to the tune of ¥16.1 billion; and a significant increase in credit costs of ¥9.0 billion, largely at subsidiary Higashi-Nippon Bank (HNPB).Lingering investor memories of past management scandals and disappointing financial performance at HNPB in particular have caused CFG to significantly underperform its peers over the last 12 months, with its stock price up only +23.5% against an average of 35.5% for the other Top 5 regional banks in terms of market capitalisation.Yet aggregate foreign ownership in CFG remains high at around 31.5%.  Foreign investors view CFG as a liquid alternative to the ‘crowded trade’ of simply buying megabanks for exposure to the Japanese financial sector.  Moreover, CFG offers a cash dividend payment policy of 33% of net profits, a total shareholder return policy target of 50%, conducts frequent share buybacks, and regularly cancels part of its Treasury Stock to boost overall shareholder returns.  Even so, within the regional banking sector, we much prefer <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chiba-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1048:1" rel="noopener">Chiba Bank (8331 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/iyo-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6869:1" rel="noopener">Iyo Bank (8385 JP)</a> for their strong management and stable fundamentals, or <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bank-of-kyoto-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5248:1" rel="noopener">Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP)</a> as an interesting thematic play.

Concordia Financial Group, Ltd (7186 JP), or CFG, has slashed its FY3/3021 guidance by 36.7% to ¥25.3 billion and is now expecting EPS of just ¥20.97 against previous guidance of ¥33.15.  There are two principal causes: writing down an investment in a bear fund that went dramatically wrong in a rising market to the tune of ¥16.1 billion; and a significant increase in credit costs of ¥9.0 billion, largely at subsidiary Higashi-Nippon Bank (HNPB).Lingering investor memories of past management scandals and disappointing financial performance at HNPB in particular have caused CFG to significantly underperform its peers over the last 12 months, with its stock price up only +23.5% against an average of 35.5% for the other Top 5 regional banks in terms of market capitalisation.Yet aggregate foreign ownership in CFG remains high at around 31.5%.  Foreign investors view CFG as a liquid alternative to the ‘crowded trade’ of simply buying megabanks for exposure to the Japanese financial sector.  Moreover, CFG offers a cash dividend payment policy of 33% of net profits, a total shareholder return policy target of 50%, conducts frequent share buybacks, and regularly cancels part of its Treasury Stock to boost overall shareholder returns.  Even so, within the regional banking sector, we much prefer Chiba Bank (8331 JP) and Iyo Bank (8385 JP) for their strong management and stable fundamentals, or Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP) as an interesting thematic play.

Concordia Financial Group (7186 JP): Asset Quality Issues

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Event-Driven

At its Monetary Policy Meeting that concluded on 19 March, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced that they would purchase ETFs and J-REIT as necessary with upper limits of about 12 trillion yen and about 180 billion yen respectively. While the upper limits were originally set as a temporary measure in response to the impact of COVID-19, the Bank will maintain them even after COVID-19 subsides.The big change was the announcement that the BOJ would only purchase ETFs tracking the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tokyo-stock-exchange-tokyo-price-index-topix" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22910:1" rel="noopener">Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX)</a>. This means no more flows to the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikkei-225" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22909:1" rel="noopener">Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX)</a> and JPX Nikkei 400 ETFs.From the increase in ETF AUM over calendar year 2020, we estimate that around 88% of the BOJ buying went into <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tokyo-stock-exchange-tokyo-price-index-topix" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22910:1" rel="noopener">Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX)</a> ETFs, with smaller amounts going into the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikkei-225" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22909:1" rel="noopener">Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX)</a> and JPX Nikkei 400 ETFs.While the impact of BOJ only buying <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tokyo-stock-exchange-tokyo-price-index-topix" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22910:1" rel="noopener">Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX)</a> linked ETFs is not material for single stocks in ADV terms, there could be a bigger impact on the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikkei-225" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22909:1" rel="noopener">Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX)</a> constituents if other NKY ETF holders redeem their units and sell the underlying shares.The NT ratio (NKY/TPX) had started to move lower over the last 15 trading days due to the shift from growth to value stocks. The BOJ announcement could take the ratio lower in the short term on a change in sentiment and short term flows due to repositioning of portfolios.<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nissan-chemical-industries" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4102:1" rel="noopener">Nissan Chemical Industries (4021 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/comsys-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20548:1" rel="noopener">Comsys Holdings (1721 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/konami-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13236:1" rel="noopener">Konami Holdings (9766 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kikkoman-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11720:1" rel="noopener">Kikkoman Corp (2801 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fast-retailing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:751:1" rel="noopener">Fast Retailing (9983 JP)</a> will be among the most negatively affected stocks, but the impact is quite small.<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tokyo-stock-exchange-tokyo-price-index-topix" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22910:1" rel="noopener">Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX)</a> stocks (that will have passive BOJ inflows of at least US$5m) that will have the largest impact in terms of ADV to trade are <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hankyu-hanshin-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13058:1" rel="noopener">Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (9042 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kintetsu-group-holdings-co-l" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18507:1" rel="noopener">Kintetsu Group Holdings Co L (9041 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hisamitsu-pharmaceutical-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:17008:1" rel="noopener">Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co (4530 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bank-of-kyoto-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5248:1" rel="noopener">Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hakuhodo-dy-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8736:1" rel="noopener">Hakuhodo Dy Holdings (2433 JP)</a>.

At its Monetary Policy Meeting that concluded on 19 March, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced that they would purchase ETFs and J-REIT as necessary with upper limits of about 12 trillion yen and about 180 billion yen respectively. While the upper limits were originally set as a temporary measure in response to the impact of COVID-19, the Bank will maintain them even after COVID-19 subsides.The big change was the announcement that the BOJ would only purchase ETFs tracking the Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX). This means no more flows to the Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX) and JPX Nikkei 400 ETFs.From the increase in ETF AUM over calendar year 2020, we estimate that around 88% of the BOJ buying went into Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX) ETFs, with smaller amounts going into the Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX) and JPX Nikkei 400 ETFs.While the impact of BOJ only buying Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX) linked ETFs is not material for single stocks in ADV terms, there could be a bigger impact on the Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX) constituents if other NKY ETF holders redeem their units and sell the underlying shares.The NT ratio (NKY/TPX) had started to move lower over the last 15 trading days due to the shift from growth to value stocks. The BOJ announcement could take the ratio lower in the short term on a change in sentiment and short term flows due to repositioning of portfolios.Nissan Chemical Industries (4021 JP), Comsys Holdings (1721 JP), Konami Holdings (9766 JP), Kikkoman Corp (2801 JP) and Fast Retailing (9983 JP) will be among the most negatively affected stocks, but the impact is quite small.Tokyo Stock Exchange Tokyo Price Index Topix (TPX INDEX) stocks (that will have passive BOJ inflows of at least US$5m) that will have the largest impact in terms of ADV to trade are Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (9042 JP), Kintetsu Group Holdings Co L (9041 JP), Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co (4530 JP), Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP) and Hakuhodo Dy Holdings (2433 JP). 

BOJ Buying to Focus on TOPIX ETFs: Big Headline, Smaller Impact

Quantitative Analysis

<div>The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.</div><div>Hong Kong saw shorts rise on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/smoore-international" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28241:1" rel="noopener">Smoore International (6969 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jd-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29043:1" rel="noopener">JD.com (HK) (9618 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/haidilao-international-holding-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27044:1" rel="noopener">Haidilao (6862 HK)</a> while there was short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ping-an-insurance-grp-co-of-china-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12880:1" rel="noopener">Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/semiconductor-manufacturing-international-corp-smic" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14231:1" rel="noopener">Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-mobile-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27:1" rel="noopener">China Mobile (941 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hsbc-holdings-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:516:1" rel="noopener">HSBC Holdings (5 HK)</a>. Shorts increased on Real Estate, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Materials, and decreased on Financials , Information Technology, Health Care and Communication Services.</div><div>In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/itochu-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18448:1" rel="noopener">Itochu Corp (8001 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/trend-micro-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13172:1" rel="noopener">Trend Micro Inc (4704 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/seiko-epson-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16793:1" rel="noopener">Seiko Epson (6724 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bank-of-kyoto-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5248:1" rel="noopener">Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP)</a> while shorts decreased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/honda-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:154:1" rel="noopener">Honda Motor (7267 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ana-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5308:1" rel="noopener">Ana Holdings (9202 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12933:1" rel="noopener">Kao Corp (4452 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kubota-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12926:1" rel="noopener">Kubota Corp (6326 JP)</a>. Sectorally, shorts increased on Information Technology and Financials, while decreasing on Consumer Discretionary,  Industrials, Consumer Staples and Real Estate.</div><div>In Korea, there were short positions put on in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-electronics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:191:1" rel="noopener">Samsung Electronics (005930 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hyundai-motor-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:155:1" rel="noopener">Hyundai Motor Co (005380 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lg-display-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7145:1" rel="noopener">LG Display (034220 KS)</a> while shorts were covered in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/s-oil-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1667:1" rel="noopener">S Oil Corp (010950 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mirae-asset-daewoo-co-ltd-b50c4d95-1687-46cb-9b58-f79ce0e72670" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12061:1" rel="noopener">Mirae Asset Daewoo (006800 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hanwha-life-insurance-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2163:1" rel="noopener">Hanwha Life Insurance (088350 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/doosan-infracore-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3982:1" rel="noopener">Doosan Infracore (042670 KS)</a>. </div><div>Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pegatron-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12852:1" rel="noopener">Pegatron Corp (4938 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/foxconn-technology-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11950:1" rel="noopener">Foxconn Technology (2354 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yageo-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13212:1" rel="noopener">Yageo Corporation (2327 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/unimicron-technology-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18778:1" rel="noopener">Unimicron Technology (3037 TT)</a> while shorts were covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/united-microelectronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6450:1" rel="noopener">United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-semiconductor-manufacturing-company" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11230:1" rel="noopener">TSMC (2330 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/evergreen-marine-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15428:1" rel="noopener">Evergreen Marine Corp (2603 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/delta-electronics-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12688:1" rel="noopener">Delta Electronics (2308 TT)</a>.</div>

The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.Hong Kong saw shorts rise on Smoore International (6969 HK), Tencent Holdings (700 HK), JD.com (HK) (9618 HK) and Haidilao (6862 HK) while there was short covering on Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK), China Mobile (941 HK) and HSBC Holdings (5 HK). Shorts increased on Real Estate, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Materials, and decreased on Financials , Information Technology, Health Care and Communication Services.In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were Itochu Corp (8001 JP), Trend Micro Inc (4704 JP), Seiko Epson (6724 JP) and Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP) while shorts decreased on Honda Motor (7267 JP), Ana Holdings (9202 JP), Kao Corp (4452 JP) and Kubota Corp (6326 JP). Sectorally, shorts increased on Information Technology and Financials, while decreasing on Consumer Discretionary,  Industrials, Consumer Staples and Real Estate.In Korea, there were short positions put on in Samsung Electronics (005930 KS), Hyundai Motor Co (005380 KS), Kakao Corp (035720 KS) and LG Display (034220 KS) while shorts were covered in S Oil Corp (010950 KS), Mirae Asset Daewoo (006800 KS), Hanwha Life Insurance (088350 KS) and Doosan Infracore (042670 KS). Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were Pegatron Corp (4938 TT), Foxconn Technology (2354 TT), Yageo Corporation (2327 TT) and Unimicron Technology (3037 TT) while shorts were covered on United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT), TSMC (2330 TT), Evergreen Marine Corp (2603 TT) and Delta Electronics (2308 TT).

Asia Short Interest: Smoore, JD, SMIC, China Mobile, Itochu, Honda, Ana, Samsung, Pegatron, TSMC

Interim results for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/concordia-financial-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22704:1" rel="noopener">Concordia Financial Group, Ltd (7186 JP)</a>, or CFG, were coloured by significantly lower net interest and fee income from domestic business reported by Bank of Yokohama, and a reduced consolidated net loss of just ¥125 million reported by Higashi-Nippon Bank (HNPB) as a result of much lower credit costs than 1H FY3/2020. HNPB remains the drag on group profitability.Aggregate foreign ownership in CFG remains high at around 31.5% as investors view CFG as a liquid alternative to the ‘crowded trade’ of simply buying megabanks for exposure to the Japanese financial sector.  Moreover, CFG offers a cash dividend payment policy of 33% of net profits, a total shareholder return policy target of 50%, conducts frequent share buybacks, and regularly cancels part of its Treasury Stock to boost overall shareholder returns.  However, lingering investor memories of past management scandals have caused CFG to significantly underperform the Topix Banks Index since 2018, with its share price still down 16% YoY even after a 21% recovery in the last six months.The Topix Banks Index has notably underperformed Topix all year, but may be in for its perennial ‘run’ between now and mid-February next year, buoyed by the outcome of the US election and with global market hopes high for a successful COVID-19 vaccine. Even so, within the regional banking sector, we much prefer <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chiba-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1048:1" rel="noopener">Chiba Bank (8331 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/iyo-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6869:1" rel="noopener">Iyo Bank (8385 JP)</a> on fundamentals, or <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bank-of-kyoto-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5248:1" rel="noopener">Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP)</a> as a strong thematic play on the rising fortunes of its largest stock investment, namely <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nintendo-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5415:1" rel="noopener">Nintendo Co Ltd (7974 JP)</a>.

Interim results for Concordia Financial Group, Ltd (7186 JP), or CFG, were coloured by significantly lower net interest and fee income from domestic business reported by Bank of Yokohama, and a reduced consolidated net loss of just ¥125 million reported by Higashi-Nippon Bank (HNPB) as a result of much lower credit costs than 1H FY3/2020. HNPB remains the drag on group profitability.Aggregate foreign ownership in CFG remains high at around 31.5% as investors view CFG as a liquid alternative to the ‘crowded trade’ of simply buying megabanks for exposure to the Japanese financial sector.  Moreover, CFG offers a cash dividend payment policy of 33% of net profits, a total shareholder return policy target of 50%, conducts frequent share buybacks, and regularly cancels part of its Treasury Stock to boost overall shareholder returns.  However, lingering investor memories of past management scandals have caused CFG to significantly underperform the Topix Banks Index since 2018, with its share price still down 16% YoY even after a 21% recovery in the last six months.The Topix Banks Index has notably underperformed Topix all year, but may be in for its perennial ‘run’ between now and mid-February next year, buoyed by the outcome of the US election and with global market hopes high for a successful COVID-19 vaccine. Even so, within the regional banking sector, we much prefer Chiba Bank (8331 JP) and Iyo Bank (8385 JP) on fundamentals, or Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP) as a strong thematic play on the rising fortunes of its largest stock investment, namely Nintendo Co Ltd (7974 JP).

Concordia Financial Group (7186 JP):  Unequal Partners

Japan

The Bank of Kyoto, Ltd. is a regional bank in Kyoto.  The Bank provides banking services including deposits, savings, loans, foreign exchange transactions, and securities investments.  The Bank of Kyoto also provides financial services such as letter of credit, leasing, loans, and credit cards.

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Bank of Kyoto (8369 JP)

Hachijuni Bank (8359 JP): A Case of Prestidigitation?

Prestidigitation, or sleight of hand, is what magicians use to create their illusions. Onlookers are beguiled into looking elsewhere at a crucial...

J. Brian Waterhouse

Concordia Financial Group (7186 JP): Asset Quality Issues

Concordia Financial Group (7186 JP) has slashed its FY3/3021 guidance by 36.7% to ¥25.3 billion on higher credit costs and after writing down a...

J. Brian Waterhouse

BOJ Buying to Focus on TOPIX ETFs: Big Headline, Smaller Impact

The BOJ will only buy ETFs linked to the TOPIX going forward. While this makes for a big headline, the impact on the stocks is much more muted....

Brian Freitas

Asia Short Interest: Smoore, JD, SMIC, China Mobile, Itochu, Honda, Ana, Samsung, Pegatron, TSMC

The Insight looks at large short interest movements across HK, Japan, Korea and Taiwan stocks and highlights large increases/decreases in shorts to...

Brian Freitas

Concordia Financial Group (7186 JP): Unequal Partners

Interim results for Concordia Financial Group (7186 JP) show that partner bank HNPB remains the drag on group profitability. The stock is down 16%...

J. Brian Waterhouse

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