Japan Shares Fall on Sumitomo Realty Profit; Bridgestone Drops

By Masaki Kondo

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks fell, led by property companies and tiremakers, after Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. missed its profit target and rubber prices reached a five-month high.

Sumitomo Realty, Japan’s No. 3 developer, slumped 3.5 percent as writedowns on stockholdings caused profit to fall short of its forecast. Smaller rival Tokyo Tatemono Co. dropped 5.9 percent. Bridgestone Corp., the world’s largest tiremaker, sank 4.8 percent. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan’s No. 2 listed bank, led banks higher after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported better-than-expected earnings.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 88.60, or 1 percent, to 8,835.83 as of 9:40 a.m. in Tokyo, reversing an early gain. The broader Topix index slipped 6.16, or 0.7 percent, to 842.81, with more than three stocks declining for every two that rose.

Sumitomo Realty dived 3.5 percent to 1,293 yen. The company posted 44 billion yen ($439 million) in net income for the year to March 31, 15 percent lower than its projection because of writedowns on its stockholdings, it said yesterday in a preliminary earnings report.

Tokyo Tatemono lost 5.9 percent to 385 yen. Mitsui Fudosan Co., the nation’s biggest property developer, declined 2.2 percent to 1,290 yen, and Mitsubishi Estate Co., the No. 2, fell 1.8 percent to 1,316 yen.

Bridgestone lost 4.8 percent to 1,476 yen. Smaller rival Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. fell 5.1 percent to 185 yen. Rubber for September delivery, the most-active contract, rose 2.2 percent to settle at 178.2 yen a kilogram ($1,770 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange yesterday. Earlier, futures rose as much as 3.1 percent to the highest since Nov. 12.

Mizuho added 1.5 percent to 199 yen, while Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. jumped 3.1 percent to 432 yen. Nomura climbed 1.9 percent to 637 yen.

Goldman Sachs, the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, earned $3.39 a share in the first quarter, the company said yesterday after markets shut, beating the $1.64 estimated by analysts, as trading revenue outweighed asset writedowns. Goldman Sachs plans to sell shares to repay the $10 billion it got from the U.S. Treasury.

To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net.