Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Thursday post-close, HS announced Q1 earnings, and Khan Bank Q2 earnings. Both magnificent. Book Value is up HUGE, and combined HS Q1-Khan Q2 is ¥7.7bn - 20% of mkt cap.</li>
<li>On Friday 29 July, HS Holdings (8699 JP) announced it had sold HS Debt Collection Agency - the last "earning asset" except for the 55% stake in Khan Bank. </li>
<li>This lifts shadow book value even higher... Deep value with a catalyst. BUT... in an otherwise unannounced postscript to Q1 earnings, HS announced it bought a stake in a... pawnshop?
</li>
</ul>


Thursday post-close, HS announced Q1 earnings, and Khan Bank Q2 earnings. Both magnificent. Book Value is up HUGE, and combined HS Q1-Khan Q2 is ¥7.7bn - 20% of mkt cap.
On Friday 29 July, HS Holdings (8699 JP) announced it had sold HS Debt Collection Agency - the last "earning asset" except for the 55% stake in Khan Bank. 
This lifts shadow book value even higher... Deep value with a catalyst. BUT... in an otherwise unannounced postscript to Q1 earnings, HS announced it bought a stake in a... pawnshop?



HS Holdings (8699 JP) - Huge Q1, Even Better Q2 Ahead, The 2nd To Last Asset Sale... And a Pawnshop?

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>We continue to view the latest pullback as healthy/normal within the ongoing bull market, and it is quite possible that the lows have been established on MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US).</li>
<li>Upgrading EM to Market Weight; MSCI Emerging Markets, China (shanghai Composite) and Hong Kong (Hang Seng) Still Bottoming; we discussed buying in our February 23, 2024 Int'l Compass
</li>
<li>Commodities all appear to be rolling over near resistance, which is what we discussed to watch for in our April 18, 2024 Int'l Compass. This has bullish implications for ACWI</li>
</ul>


We continue to view the latest pullback as healthy/normal within the ongoing bull market, and it is quite possible that the lows have been established on MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US).
Upgrading EM to Market Weight; MSCI Emerging Markets, China (shanghai Composite) and Hong Kong (Hang Seng) Still Bottoming; we discussed buying in our February 23, 2024 Int'l Compass

Commodities all appear to be rolling over near resistance, which is what we discussed to watch for in our April 18, 2024 Int'l Compass. This has bullish implications for ACWI


Upgrading Emerging Markets to Market Weight; China/Hong Kong Continue to Bottom; Energy Breakdowns

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>After a bumper bonus during Covid, the fashion sector saw calmer spending in the last 18 months as the big return to shops led to more muted growth online. </li>
<li>The overall EC fashion market grew around 4-7% depending on how you measure it, but online market share actually fell as people went back to shops.</li>
<li>This in-depth review highlights the key trends in the sector as well as the winners by sales growth among retailers and fashion brands.</li>
</ul>


After a bumper bonus during Covid, the fashion sector saw calmer spending in the last 18 months as the big return to shops led to more muted growth online. 
The overall EC fashion market grew around 4-7% depending on how you measure it, but online market share actually fell as people went back to shops.
This in-depth review highlights the key trends in the sector as well as the winners by sales growth among retailers and fashion brands.


Fashion E-Commerce: Physical Stores Grow Faster than Online in Japan

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<ul>
<li>The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sompo-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:632:1" rel="noopener">Sompo Holdings (8630 JP)</a> had a stake over US$100m in at least 16 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$6bn.</li>
<li>In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.</li>
</ul>


The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.

Sompo Holdings (8630 JP) had a stake over US$100m in at least 16 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$6bn.
In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.


Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

<ul>
<li>Jade Group has acquired Magaseek and will merge the online mall with its own fashion e-commerce platform, Locondo and hopes to create a growing rival to Zozo.</li>
<li>Magaseek was founded by Itochu 20 years ago, and the deal underlines Itochu’s growing influence over Jade as a proxy for its ambitions in fashion e-commerce and distribution.</li>
<li>However, Jade Group has seen little organic growth for its Locondo platform in recent years, and while its acquisitions have added scale, integration has been haphazard.</li>
</ul>


Jade Group has acquired Magaseek and will merge the online mall with its own fashion e-commerce platform, Locondo and hopes to create a growing rival to Zozo.
Magaseek was founded by Itochu 20 years ago, and the deal underlines Itochu’s growing influence over Jade as a proxy for its ambitions in fashion e-commerce and distribution.
However, Jade Group has seen little organic growth for its Locondo platform in recent years, and while its acquisitions have added scale, integration has been haphazard.


Itochu Targets Fashion E-Commerce Via Jade Takeover of Magaseek

Japan

ITOCHU Corporation is a general trading firm handling textiles, wood, machinery, metals, food, chemicals, construction materials, commodities, and energy related products such as oil and gas. The Company operates around the world. Itochu diversifies by operating in satellite communication and data communication businesses.

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Itochu Corp (8001 JP)

HS Holdings (8699 JP) - Huge Q1, Even Better Q2 Ahead, The 2nd To Last Asset Sale... And a Pawnshop?

HS Holdings (8699) reports great Q1, even better incoming Q2 (mostly known already), and sells the last remaining financial asset. All good. THEN...

Travis Lundy

Upgrading Emerging Markets to Market Weight; China/Hong Kong Continue to Bottom; Energy Breakdowns

Upgrading Emerging Markets $EEM $VWO to Market Weight; China/Hong Kong Continue to Bottom $FXI $MCHI $KWEB; Lows Likely in on $ACWI; Commodities...

Vermilion Research

Fashion E-Commerce: Physical Stores Grow Faster than Online in Japan

Fashion sector saw a slowdown in online spending post-Covid as shoppers returned to physical stores, impacting overall market growth. Winners in...

Michael Causton

Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings. Sompo had a stake of over...

Sumeet Singh

Itochu Targets Fashion E-Commerce Via Jade Takeover of Magaseek

Jade Group acquires Magaseek to merge with Locondo, aiming to rival Zozo; Itochu's influence grows using Jade as a proxy for fashion e-commerce...

Michael Causton

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

HS Holdings (8699 JP) - Huge Q1, Even Better Q2 Ahead, The 2nd To Last Asset Sale... And a Pawnshop?

HS Holdings (8699) reports great Q1, even better incoming Q2 (mostly known already), and sells the last remaining financial asset. All good. THEN...

Travis Lundy

Upgrading Emerging Markets to Market Weight; China/Hong Kong Continue to Bottom; Energy Breakdowns

Upgrading Emerging Markets $EEM $VWO to Market Weight; China/Hong Kong Continue to Bottom $FXI $MCHI $KWEB; Lows Likely in on $ACWI; Commodities...

Vermilion Research

Fashion E-Commerce: Physical Stores Grow Faster than Online in Japan

​Fashion sector saw a slowdown in online spending post-Covid as shoppers returned to physical stores, impacting overall market growth. Winners in...

Michael Causton

Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings. Sompo had a stake of over...

Sumeet Singh

Itochu Targets Fashion E-Commerce Via Jade Takeover of Magaseek

​Jade Group acquires Magaseek to merge with Locondo, aiming to rival Zozo; Itochu's influence grows using Jade as a proxy for fashion e-commerce...

Michael Causton

Fashion sector saw a slowdown in online spending post-Covid as shoppers returned to physical stores, impacting overall market growth. Winners in...

Jade Group acquires Magaseek to merge with Locondo, aiming to rival Zozo; Itochu's influence grows using Jade as a proxy for fashion e-commerce...