Daiichi Sankyo, Inpex, Mitsubishi Motors: Japan Equity Preview

By Norie Kuboyama

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Japanese trading today. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the previous close. The information in each item was released after markets shut, unless stated otherwise.

Aozora Bank Ltd. (8304 JT), Bank of the Ryukyus Ltd. (8399 JT) and Gifu Bank Ltd. (8528 JT): The lenders may receive business improvement orders from the Financial Services Agency for missing performance targets, the Nikkei newspaper reported. The FSA is authorized to issue improvement orders to aid recipients that have missed earnings targets by at least 30 percent, Nikkei said. Aozora added 2 yen, or 0.8 percent, to 252. Bank of the Ryukyus was unchanged at 985 yen. Gifu slid 1 yen, or 1.3 percent, to 78.

Chiyoda Co. (8185 JT): The store chain said first-quarter net income jumped 56 percent to 1.52 billion yen ($14.1 million), reflecting the absence of charges related to devalued inventory in the previous year. Chiyoda gained 42 yen, or 2.7 percent, to 1,627.

Creed Corp. (8888 JT): The real estate advisory company said full-year net income decreased 40 percent to 2.77 billion yen, citing lower-than-expected sale prices for property. It expects 2.8 billion yen in profit this business year. Creed rallied 3,600 yen, or 4.8 percent, to 79,400.

Daiichi Sankyo Co. (4568 JT): Japan's third-biggest drugmaker said its U.S. subsidiary sold rights to its anemia drug Venofer to Fresenius Medical Care AG. (FME GR). Fresenius will have U.S. rights to make and sell the treatment for dialysis patients, Daiichi Sankyo said in an e-mailed statement. The Japanese company will keep rights to sell the medicine for other uses, it said. Daiichi Sankyo rose 30 yen, or 1 percent, to 3,160.

Fast Retailing Co. (9983 JT): Japan's biggest clothing retailer sold its entire 60 percent stake in Aspesi Japan to Alberto Aspesi & C S.p.A., Fast Retailing said in a release, without disclosing the value of the transaction. Aspesi Japan designs and sells Italy's Aspesi brand in Japan, the statement said. Fast Retailing added 90 yen, or 0.9 percent, to 9,780.

Furuno Electric Co. (6814 JO): The marine-equipment maker said first-quarter operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, rose 21 percent to 2.26 billion yen, with a 3.7 percent advance in sales. Net income in the quarter ended May 31 fell 9.2 percent to 1.23 billion yen, citing an asset-impairment charge. The stock rose 24 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 1,341.

Happinet Corp. (7552 JT): The wholesaler of toys and child care goods said it will buy back as much as 1.66 percent of its outstanding shares through Sept. 30. The stock fell 1 yen, or 0.1 percent, to 1,470.

Inpex Holdings Inc. (1605 JT): Japan's biggest oil explorer said it may spend 1.24 trillion yen in the three years through March 2011 on developing oil fields, liquefied natural gas projects and acquisitions. Inpex slid 30,000 yen, or 2.4 percent, to 1.24 million yen.

Kyocera Corp. (6971 JT): The company, High Tech Computer Corp. (2498 TT) and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (23752Z LN) were accused in a lawsuit of violating patents used to produce mobile phones. SPH America LLC, a closely held company, sued the companies in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, claiming three of its patents have been violated. Kyocera lost 170 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 9,350.

Link Theory Holdings Co. (3373 JT): The apparel retailer reversed its full-year forecast to a net loss of 470 million yen from 50 million yen in profit, citing foreign-exchange losses from devalued yen-denominated loans to a U.S. subsidiary. The stock gained 5,000 yen, or 2.8 percent, to 181,000.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (7211 JT): The automaker will start selling the i MiEV plug-in electric vehicle to retail customers next summer, the Nikkei newspaper reported. The automaker had previously planned to start leasing the minicar to businesses next summer and sales to individuals in 2010, the report said. The stock fell 1 yen, or 0.5 percent, to 187.

NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437 JT): Japan's largest mobile-phone operator set up a company in Shanghai to provide services to corporations, targeting Japanese firms in China. DoCoMo China Co., a wholly owned subsidiary, will begin operations from the end of July, Tokyo-based DoCoMo said in a statement on its Web site. The stock rose 4,000 yen, or 2.5 percent, to 166,000.

Nippon Mining Holdings Inc. (5016 JT): The company's first- half pretax profit may rise 4 percent to about 100 billion yen as higher oil prices increase the value of the company's inventory, the Nikkei newspaper said. That would exceed the Tokyo-based oil distributor's most recent forecast of 51 billion yen, the report said. The stock dropped 4 yen, or 0.6 percent, to 626.

Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co. (5232 JT): Japan's third-largest cement producer said a unit shipped raw concrete that fell short of Japanese government standards. The cement was shipped by Mutsuai Concrete Co., a 50 percent owned subsidiary, Tokyo-based Sumitomo said. The stock fell 3.2 percent to 211 yen.

Tecmo Ltd. (9650 JT): The game software developer said in a preliminary earnings statement first-half net income totaled 360 million yen, 20 percent above its forecast, citing foreign- exchange benefits. Tecmo added 7 yen, or 0.7 percent, to 1,053.

Terumo Corp. (4543 JT): Asia's largest medical products maker said it sued Maquet GmbH, accusing it of infringing a German patent for medical devices used in heart surgery. Terumo slid 70 yen, or 1.2 percent, to 5,600.

To contact the reporter on this story: Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net.