Daily Brief Financials: Jafco Co Ltd, RHB Bank Bhd, Cme Group Inc, Rakuten Bank, Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan, Record PLC and more

• Revenue increased by 40.9% YoY to JPY7.2bn, with operating profit up 67.6% YoY to JPY2.7bn.
• Capital gains reached JPY3.2bn (+29.7% YoY), primarily from listed shares, with an investment multiple of 2.1x.
• Total investment executed was JPY6.8bn, with JPY3.2bn in domestic VC investments, averaging 20.4% equity stakes.

• RHB Bank is now our sole pick in Malaysian banks, topping our proprietary scorecard; it retains strong fundamental value credentials, with an improving cost of risk trend
• We downgrade CIMB shares to a hold from a buy; the valuations are less compelling than RHB and it has further to improve on credit quality and returns
• PB Bank is a name to watch for its sustained premium returns, and for its position as the peer group benchmark in terms of ROE, credit quality and efficiency ratio

• Exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange serve the crucial function of bringing buyers and sellers together, ensuring transactions are completed smoothly and efficiently.
• Clearinghouses, coordinated by exchanges, play a vital role in finalizing transactions and mitigating risks, acting as a safety net to guarantee trades will settle even if one party defaults.
• CME Group specializes in futures contracts, offering a wide range of products and deep liquidity pools for global benchmark products, making it a leading marketplace for derivatives globally.

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• We believe that the Japanese-US trade deal helps to decrease uncertainty on monetary policy, with a potential rate rise in the near term improving the outlook for Japanese banks
• We remove our short on Rakuten Bank, as it is one of the beneficiaries of a near term potential rise in benchmark rates going forward
• In terms of PBV ratio, Seven Bank still trades at a 70%+ discount to Rakuten Bank’s PBV but the latter is impacted by the near-term interest rate outlook change

Halyk Bank is a leading financial services group in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, as well as the largest local bank by assets, and has been successfully rolling out its B2C and B2B digital offering in recent years. Halyk has consistently delivered a return on equity (ROE) of 30%+, with 34.7% in Q125. High profitability, coupled with a sound capital base (a CET-1 ratio of 19.3% at end-March 2025), allows Halyk to distribute an attractive dividend, with its last 12-month payment implying a c 13% yield at the current share price. Halyk also offers the prospect of continued double-digit loan book expansion assisting further medium-term EPS growth, despite an expected net interest margin decline from the strong c 7.5% in Q125.

Record reported steady progress in its Q126 trading update. Assets under management (AUM) grew by $7bn in the quarter to $107.9bn, primarily driven by fx movements of $7.6bn, offset by a modest asset loss of $0.6bn. Crystallised Q1 performance fees of £0.4m were down year-on-year but in line with our end-FY26 estimate of £3m. The bulk of the AUM fx growth was caused by the weakness of the dollar versus the swiss franc over the quarter. Given that Record’s revenues are primarily in pounds sterling, this movement will not have had a material impact on numbers. Therefore, we are not changing our estimates at this stage.