Japan: Toshiba Corp, Mitsubishi Electric, Z Holdings and more

In today’s briefing:

Toshiba (6502) Ownership Structure – “Hostage to Toshiba” Larger Than Real World Float
Toshiba – Headed For A Showdown
Why Do Bigger Companies in Japan Repeat Scandals? – Learning from Mitsubishi Electric –
Z Holdings (4689) | PayPay Key to Fintech Growth

Toshiba (6502) Ownership Structure – “Hostage to Toshiba” Larger Than Real World Float

Every year, the yukashoken hokokusho shows a breakdown of share ownership by owner category. It only happens once a year for most companies.
It is a crucial input to knowing where the shares are and how people are positioned. It also shows who and how big is Real World Float.
This year’s data shows a surprisingly small change year-on-year for Foreign Active Ownership, which is the biggest category. A little musical chairs, but no chairs removed.

Following the resignation of director Mariko Watahiki yesterday, the results for the shareholder votes are in for Toshiba.
Watahiki unsurprisingly had a low approval ratio of 65.87% but activist-linked directors also saw less than stellar approval ratios as did new CEO Taro Shimada.
Toshiba’s path forward looks increasingly murky and lofty valuations bid up on privatisation hopium look increasingly tenuous.

Regarding the Nikkei article, “Mitsubishi Electric to Reform Strict Governance to Revamp Organization,” I would like to summarize the points and discussed the issues.
This case proves that we cannot rely on the appearance of board practices alone. We can think of companies with similar organizational structures that have had repeated scandals.
I will focus on the board diversity from the perspective of whether Mitsubishi Electric can seriously change its corporate culture to one that accepts different values and discusses issues head-on.

Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma