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. 

Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kobe-bussan-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4701:1" rel="noopener">Kobe Bussan (3038 JP)</a>, one of the best performers among Japanese retail stocks in the last two years, owns and manages Gyomu Super, progenitor of the successful – and only – new supermarket chain of the past 20 years.
But Kobe Bussan makes most of its money from food wholesaling and sees only so much scope for discount supermarkets moving forward, so the Hyogo-based company is looking to diversify into restaurants to further expand its food supply business.

Kobe Bussan (3038 JP), one of the best performers among Japanese retail stocks in the last two years, owns and manages Gyomu Super, progenitor of the successful – and only – new supermarket chain of the past 20 years.
But Kobe Bussan makes most of its money from food wholesaling and sees only so much scope for discount supermarkets moving forward, so the Hyogo-based company is looking to diversify into restaurants to further expand its food supply business.

Kobe Bussan Plans Diversification Beyond Supermarkets

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist, LightStream Research

Campbell Gunn

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist

ja research

ja research is an independent research platform focused exclusively on Japanese equities. Leveraging data and graphic analysis provided by Japan Analytics, we provide insights on small and medium-sized companies that have been ignored by the sell-side as well as challenging conventional wisdom on larger companies. We also offer analyst and corporate access, the latter with translation if required. 

Quantitative Analysis

<div>
• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE - COMPANIES •
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/110/839/original/2019-12-17_10-16-56.png?1576545466" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="110839"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>
COMPANY RELATIVE PRICE SCORE OUTLIERS - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices over the last 28 years and 24 months, respectively. As all companies are put on a comparable scale, 'Overbought' and 'Oversold' outliers and short-term changes in scoring can reveal attractive trading opportunities. Company outlier thresholds are set at +4 &amp; -2 and equate to the top and bottom first-to-second percentiles of historical observations from which mean reversion takes a matter of months. 
</div><div><div>Following on from our previous Insight <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/japan-december-sector-peer-group-relative-price-scores-from-defensives-to-cylicals" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:35266" rel="noopener">December Sector &amp; Peer Group Relative Price Scores - From Defensives to Cylicals</a> which covered Sectors and Peer Groups, in the DETAIL section below, we update our list of Overbought and Oversold large-cap companies (market capitalisation over ¥100b) with the current Very Overbought (RPS&gt;5), Too-Late-To-Buy (RPS &gt;4.5) and Oversold (RPS &lt;-2) companies, as well as the largest positive and negative 3-month Changes in RPS adding some stock-specific comments in each category.</div></div>


• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE - COMPANIES •
Source: Japan Analytics
COMPANY RELATIVE PRICE SCORE OUTLIERS - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices over the last 28 years and 24 months, respectively. As all companies are put on a comparable scale, 'Overbought' and 'Oversold' outliers and short-term changes in scoring can reveal attractive trading opportunities. Company outlier thresholds are set at +4 &amp; -2 and equate to the top and bottom first-to-second percentiles of historical observations from which mean reversion takes a matter of months. 
Following on from our previous Insight December Sector &amp; Peer Group Relative Price Scores - From Defensives to Cylicals which covered Sectors and Peer Groups, in the DETAIL section below, we update our list of Overbought and Oversold large-cap companies (market capitalisation over ¥100b) with the current Very Overbought (RPS&gt;5), Too-Late-To-Buy (RPS &gt;4.5) and Oversold (RPS &lt;-2) companies, as well as the largest positive and negative 3-month Changes in RPS adding some stock-specific comments in each category.

🇯🇵 JAPAN • December Company Relative Price Scores - Opportunities in the Outliers

• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE •<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/178/original/2019-09-06_09-42-35.png?1567730614" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98178"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>INTRODUCTION - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of stock price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices. As all companies are thus on a comparable scale, 'Overbought' and 'Oversold' outliers and changes in scoring can reveal short-term and longer-term trading opportunities. Company outlier thresholds are set at +4 &amp; -2 and equate to the top and bottom first-to-second percentiles of historical observations from which mean reversion takes a matter of months. RPS outliers with a Score of greater than 10.0 are rare outside of the 2000 tech 'bubble'. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lasertec-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4126:1" rel="noopener">Lasertec (6920 JP)</a> has just joined <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/goldwin-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:410:1" rel="noopener">Goldwin (8111 JP)</a> in being only the second large-cap RPS 'ten-baggers' in the last twenty years. <div class="content-highlight">This insight updates our list of Overbought and Oversold companies, reviews the best and worst-performing companies in terms of RPS over the last three months and adds some specific comments on stocks on each category.</div><div></div><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/046/original/2019-09-05_12-46-46.png?1567655232" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98046"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>STATISTICS - Currently, of the 3,706 listed companies for which monthly RPS data is available, 81 companies are 'Overbought', and 133 are 'Oversold' - 2.45% and 3.8%, respectively of the total. For the 737 companies with a market capitalisation of over ¥100b, there are 44 'Overbought' and 37 'Oversold' companies, 6% and 5%, respectively.<hr>• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE 'TOPS' •<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/055/original/2019-09-05_13-06-30.png?1567656423" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98055"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>RPS 'TOPS' - In the last two years, 388 companies have achieved an RPS of '4' or more and the average Overbought 'persistence' is 42 days. 1.26% of the total of 1.94 million traded stock days were by companies with an RPS of over 4. For companies with a market capitalisation higher than ¥100b, the numbers are 95 companies and 74 days - demonstrating the superior persistence of large capitalisation companies in this regard. The chart above highlights the track record of all 95 large caps which are some point were Overbought in the last twenty-four months and illustrates the extreme outlier status of Goldwin and Lasertec.RPS NEGATIVE MEAN REVERSION - Some examples of RPS mean reversion in the last three months have been <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/suzuken-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14996:1" rel="noopener">Suzuken (9987 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/infomart-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1301:1" rel="noopener">Infomart (2492 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nichirei-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7168:1" rel="noopener">Nichirei (2871 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fancl-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15862:1" rel="noopener">Fancl (4921 JP)</a>. <figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/096/original/2019-09-05_16-25-39.png?1567668352" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98096"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/097/original/2019-09-05_16-27-09.png?1567668441" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98097"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/098/original/2019-09-05_16-28-42.png?1567668548" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98098"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/099/original/2019-09-05_16-30-29.png?1567668640" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98099"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div><hr>• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE 'BOTTOMS' •<div>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/056/original/2019-09-05_13-12-52.png?1567656806" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98056"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>
</div>RPS 'BOTTOMS' - 259 companies have seen their RPS fall to '-2' or below in the last two years, and the average Oversold 'persistence' is 83 days. 1.46% of the total of 1.94 million traded stock days were by companies with an RPS of less than -2.  For larger capitalisation companies, the numbers are 79 companies and 94 days. The chart above highlights the track record of the 79 large caps which are some point were Oversold in the last twenty-four months and illustrates the strong recovery in the REITs Sector and the continuing demise of Regional Banks.RPS POSITIVE MEAN REVERSION - Some recent examples of positive RPS mean reversions are <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/otsuka-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12292:1" rel="noopener">Otsuka Holdings (4578 JP) </a>and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/line-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22772:1" rel="noopener">LINE (3938 JP)</a>.<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/100/original/2019-09-05_16-35-47.png?1567668972" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98100"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/098/102/original/2019-09-05_16-36-50.png?1567669047" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="98102"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>As we noted in our June <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/japan-relative-price-scores-overbought-oversold-companies-june-2019" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:30393" rel="noopener">Insight: -</a><blockquote><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/line-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22772:1" rel="noopener">LINE (3938 JP)</a>- Line has performed poorly since being featured in last year's Sohn Conference and has had negative and worsening Operating Income for each of the previous five quarters. Although there is a possibility of a double-bottom RPS 'bounce' and the company is now the most-Oversold non-financial large-cap over one year, there are no fundamental reasons to own the shares.   </blockquote>In the DETAIL section below, we list the current Very Overbought (RPS&gt;5), Too-Late-To-Buy (RPS &gt;4&lt;5) and Oversold (RPS &lt;-2) stocks as well as the most substantial three-month positive and negative changes in RPS.

• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE •Source: Japan AnalyticsINTRODUCTION - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of stock price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices. As all companies are thus on a comparable scale, 'Overbought' and 'Oversold' outliers and changes in scoring can reveal short-term and longer-term trading opportunities. Company outlier thresholds are set at +4 &amp; -2 and equate to the top and bottom first-to-second percentiles of historical observations from which mean reversion takes a matter of months. RPS outliers with a Score of greater than 10.0 are rare outside of the 2000 tech 'bubble'. Lasertec (6920 JP) has just joined Goldwin (8111 JP) in being only the second large-cap RPS 'ten-baggers' in the last twenty years. This insight updates our list of Overbought and Oversold companies, reviews the best and worst-performing companies in terms of RPS over the last three months and adds some specific comments on stocks on each category.Source: Japan AnalyticsSTATISTICS - Currently, of the 3,706 listed companies for which monthly RPS data is available, 81 companies are 'Overbought', and 133 are 'Oversold' - 2.45% and 3.8%, respectively of the total. For the 737 companies with a market capitalisation of over ¥100b, there are 44 'Overbought' and 37 'Oversold' companies, 6% and 5%, respectively.• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE 'TOPS' •Source: Japan AnalyticsRPS 'TOPS' - In the last two years, 388 companies have achieved an RPS of '4' or more and the average Overbought 'persistence' is 42 days. 1.26% of the total of 1.94 million traded stock days were by companies with an RPS of over 4. For companies with a market capitalisation higher than ¥100b, the numbers are 95 companies and 74 days - demonstrating the superior persistence of large capitalisation companies in this regard. The chart above highlights the track record of all 95 large caps which are some point were Overbought in the last twenty-four months and illustrates the extreme outlier status of Goldwin and Lasertec.RPS NEGATIVE MEAN REVERSION - Some examples of RPS mean reversion in the last three months have been Suzuken (9987 JP), Infomart (2492 JP), Nichirei (2871 JP), and Fancl (4921 JP). Source: Japan Analytics• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE 'BOTTOMS' •
Source: Japan Analytics
RPS 'BOTTOMS' - 259 companies have seen their RPS fall to '-2' or below in the last two years, and the average Oversold 'persistence' is 83 days. 1.46% of the total of 1.94 million traded stock days were by companies with an RPS of less than -2.  For larger capitalisation companies, the numbers are 79 companies and 94 days. The chart above highlights the track record of the 79 large caps which are some point were Oversold in the last twenty-four months and illustrates the strong recovery in the REITs Sector and the continuing demise of Regional Banks.RPS POSITIVE MEAN REVERSION - Some recent examples of positive RPS mean reversions are Otsuka Holdings (4578 JP) and LINE (3938 JP).Source: Japan AnalyticsAs we noted in our June Insight: -LINE (3938 JP)- Line has performed poorly since being featured in last year's Sohn Conference and has had negative and worsening Operating Income for each of the previous five quarters. Although there is a possibility of a double-bottom RPS 'bounce' and the company is now the most-Oversold non-financial large-cap over one year, there are no fundamental reasons to own the shares.   In the DETAIL section below, we list the current Very Overbought (RPS&gt;5), Too-Late-To-Buy (RPS &gt;4&lt;5) and Oversold (RPS &lt;-2) stocks as well as the most substantial three-month positive and negative changes in RPS.

🇯🇵 Japan • September Relative Price Scores - Life at the Poles Part 2: Companies

Event-Driven

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yahoo-japan-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19603:1" rel="noopener">Yahoo Japan (4689 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/askul-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16807:1" rel="noopener">Askul Corp (2678 JP)</a> have begun an unusual (for Japan) public display of disaffection in the last month. The cause is Yahoo's desire to grab Lohaco, a division of Askul that Yahoo helped create, and Askul's unwillingness to let it go. Meanwhile, plenty of other companies would like to buy Lohaco and or Askul in its entirety in order to boost their own e-commerce businesses. This could be the start of a messy battle for control but as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/travis-lundy" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:25" rel="noopener">Travis Lundy</a> <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/askul-vs-yahoo-japan-gloves-off" target="_blank" rel="noopener">makes clear</a> there seems to be mostly upside for investors.Yahoo claims that Askul’s performance has been sub-optimal and that Lohaco in particular would do better under Yahoo control. However, Askul, and Lohaco, in particular, were devastated by a warehouse fire in 2017 which took two years to recover from. Recent results show encouraging signs of growth of both sales and operating income.In addition, Askul’s plans for Lohaco going forward look coherent, realistic and promising.Yahoo implicitly claims that Lohaco is an entirely separate entity from Askul. This is harder to disprove but in my view, much of Lohaco’s initial success and the very high trust levels it has with consumers now come from Askul’s reputation in the market. In addition, many of the recent improvements at Lohaco and the upcoming plans rely on high levels of expertise in logistics and direct marketing which Askul has. In other words, trying to separate Lohaco from Askul is not as simple as just transferring ownership.While Askul’s BtoB business doesn’t hold much promise long-term, Lohaco is the potential jewel in its crown, partly because of the mall’s fulfilment service levels and partly because of distinctive merchandise ranges from private label and manufacturer collaborations (150 and counting).However, the real value in Lohaco in my view is its potential to become a platform for online grocery sales. Food e-commerce is about to boom and all the big players are already lined up and building share and many would like to get ahold of Lohaco to facilitate this expansion. They are led by Amazon which not only has Amazon Fresh but has just tied up with Japan’s biggest single supermarket chain, Life Corp. Meanwhile, Rakuten has a joint venture with Walmart (Seiyu) who has just announced a renewed enthusiasm for Japan (even if only to sell later but that buyer could be Rakuten). And the big CVS, Seven-Eleven and Lawson also have nascent online food businesses.Yahoo has nothing in this area at all but as the third big mall operator desperately needs a partner to make this happen. Building its own online food business would be years of work because doing food e-commerce is a lot harder than operating a generic online mall.Lohaco, however, is already tied with a big partner: it is working with Seven &amp; I on the fresh food section of its online mall called IY Fresh. This partnership has been going since 2017 and by all accounts, the CEOs of Askul and Seven &amp; I have become fast friends since signing off on the deal. Seven &amp; I stated in its new annual report that it sees a strong future for IY Fresh and its e-commerce operations.In my view, Seven &amp; I wants Lohaco for itself to bolster its existing online business and plans for the Net Convenience App that it launched last year.This would be a major set back for Yahoo and probably why Yahoo wants to take control now – and perhaps not coincidentally there were reports last year of a joint venture between Yahoo, Softbank and Seven &amp; I’s major rival, Aeon, in online food, again possibly using Lohaco as the base.As to who finally ends up successfully tying with Askul/Lohaco or just Lohaco remains to be seen but Seven &amp; I would make the most strategic sense and is probably Askul’s favoured partner given the existing relationship.As always for the technical and financial implications of this trade, I defer to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/travis-lundy" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:25" rel="noopener">Travis Lundy</a> who has <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/askul-vs-yahoo-japan-gloves-off" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a full analysis and summary of the likely scenarios here</a>. My review below lays out the operational and strategic issues, the potential growth for Askul/Lohaco and the reasons why Lohaco has become such an alluring bride.

Yahoo Japan (4689 JP) and Askul Corp (2678 JP) have begun an unusual (for Japan) public display of disaffection in the last month. The cause is Yahoo's desire to grab Lohaco, a division of Askul that Yahoo helped create, and Askul's unwillingness to let it go. Meanwhile, plenty of other companies would like to buy Lohaco and or Askul in its entirety in order to boost their own e-commerce businesses. This could be the start of a messy battle for control but as Travis Lundy makes clear there seems to be mostly upside for investors.Yahoo claims that Askul’s performance has been sub-optimal and that Lohaco in particular would do better under Yahoo control. However, Askul, and Lohaco, in particular, were devastated by a warehouse fire in 2017 which took two years to recover from. Recent results show encouraging signs of growth of both sales and operating income.In addition, Askul’s plans for Lohaco going forward look coherent, realistic and promising.Yahoo implicitly claims that Lohaco is an entirely separate entity from Askul. This is harder to disprove but in my view, much of Lohaco’s initial success and the very high trust levels it has with consumers now come from Askul’s reputation in the market. In addition, many of the recent improvements at Lohaco and the upcoming plans rely on high levels of expertise in logistics and direct marketing which Askul has. In other words, trying to separate Lohaco from Askul is not as simple as just transferring ownership.While Askul’s BtoB business doesn’t hold much promise long-term, Lohaco is the potential jewel in its crown, partly because of the mall’s fulfilment service levels and partly because of distinctive merchandise ranges from private label and manufacturer collaborations (150 and counting).However, the real value in Lohaco in my view is its potential to become a platform for online grocery sales. Food e-commerce is about to boom and all the big players are already lined up and building share and many would like to get ahold of Lohaco to facilitate this expansion. They are led by Amazon which not only has Amazon Fresh but has just tied up with Japan’s biggest single supermarket chain, Life Corp. Meanwhile, Rakuten has a joint venture with Walmart (Seiyu) who has just announced a renewed enthusiasm for Japan (even if only to sell later but that buyer could be Rakuten). And the big CVS, Seven-Eleven and Lawson also have nascent online food businesses.Yahoo has nothing in this area at all but as the third big mall operator desperately needs a partner to make this happen. Building its own online food business would be years of work because doing food e-commerce is a lot harder than operating a generic online mall.Lohaco, however, is already tied with a big partner: it is working with Seven &amp; I on the fresh food section of its online mall called IY Fresh. This partnership has been going since 2017 and by all accounts, the CEOs of Askul and Seven &amp; I have become fast friends since signing off on the deal. Seven &amp; I stated in its new annual report that it sees a strong future for IY Fresh and its e-commerce operations.In my view, Seven &amp; I wants Lohaco for itself to bolster its existing online business and plans for the Net Convenience App that it launched last year.This would be a major set back for Yahoo and probably why Yahoo wants to take control now – and perhaps not coincidentally there were reports last year of a joint venture between Yahoo, Softbank and Seven &amp; I’s major rival, Aeon, in online food, again possibly using Lohaco as the base.As to who finally ends up successfully tying with Askul/Lohaco or just Lohaco remains to be seen but Seven &amp; I would make the most strategic sense and is probably Askul’s favoured partner given the existing relationship.As always for the technical and financial implications of this trade, I defer to Travis Lundy who has a full analysis and summary of the likely scenarios here. My review below lays out the operational and strategic issues, the potential growth for Askul/Lohaco and the reasons why Lohaco has become such an alluring bride.

Everyone Wants to Buy Askul’s Lohaco, Not Just Yahoo

Equity Capital Markets

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wal-mart-stores-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11134:1" rel="noopener">Wal Mart Stores (WMT US)</a> says it will relist its Japanese business soon, putting to rest – at least for now – widespread speculation that it was about to sell off its 330-store Japanese operation after 17 years of trying to turn the business around.Walmart may have tried to sell the business but with no one willing to pay the right price, Walmart has instead announced a new mid-term plan based on refreshed stores, expanded private brand lines and, much more intriguingly, further investment in its new joint business with Rakuten online – its first real chance to expand nationally.The Japanese online food market is about to boom and many of the key players are jockeying for position but if Rakuten and Walmart can gain real traction, the joint venture could be one of the leaders in this fast-expanding market. If the venture proves of less benefit to Walmart than hoped, Walmart will want to sell and it may be Rakuten that wants to buy.

Wal Mart Stores (WMT US) says it will relist its Japanese business soon, putting to rest – at least for now – widespread speculation that it was about to sell off its 330-store Japanese operation after 17 years of trying to turn the business around.Walmart may have tried to sell the business but with no one willing to pay the right price, Walmart has instead announced a new mid-term plan based on refreshed stores, expanded private brand lines and, much more intriguingly, further investment in its new joint business with Rakuten online – its first real chance to expand nationally.The Japanese online food market is about to boom and many of the key players are jockeying for position but if Rakuten and Walmart can gain real traction, the joint venture could be one of the leaders in this fast-expanding market. If the venture proves of less benefit to Walmart than hoped, Walmart will want to sell and it may be Rakuten that wants to buy.

Walmart Will Relist Japan Unit Soon and at Last Has Potential to Grow – but Only Online

Japan

KOBE BUSSAN CO., LTD. is a supermarket franchise store operator which mainly deals in foods stuffs.  The Company also has direct-run stores.

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Kobe Bussan (3038 JP)

Kobe Bussan Plans Diversification Beyond Supermarkets

Kobe Bussan (3038 JP), one of the best performers among Japanese retail stocks in the last two years, owns and manages Gyomu Super, progenitor of...

Michael Causton

🇯🇵 JAPAN • December Company Relative Price Scores - Opportunities in the Outliers

• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE - COMPANIES • COMPANY RELATIVE PRICE SCORE OUTLIERS - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of price performance...

Campbell Gunn

🇯🇵 Japan • September Relative Price Scores - Life at the Poles Part 2: Companies

• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE •INTRODUCTION - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of stock price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by...

Campbell Gunn

Everyone Wants to Buy Askul’s Lohaco, Not Just Yahoo

Yahoo Japan (4689 JP) and Askul Corp (2678 JP) have begun an unusual (for Japan) public display of disaffection in the last month. The cause is...

Michael Causton

Walmart Will Relist Japan Unit Soon and at Last Has Potential to Grow – but Only Online

Wal Mart Stores (WMT US) says it will relist its Japanese business soon, putting to rest – at least for now – widespread speculation that it was...

Michael Causton

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