By Akiko Ikeda
April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 49.31, or 0.6 percent, to 8,858.27 as of 9:30 a.m. in Tokyo. The following are among the most active shares in the Japanese market today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Steelmakers: Japanese steelmakers were lifted to “buy” from “neutral” at Nomura Securities Co. Kobe Steel Ltd. (5406 JT) jumped 4.6 percent to 183 yen. Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. (5405 JT) gained 2.9 percent to 249 yen. Nippon Steel Corp. (5401 JT) added 1.5 percent to 351 yen. JFE Holdings Inc. (5411 JT) rose 1.8 percent to 3,040 yen.
Coca-Cola West Holdings Co. (2579 JT) climbed 6.3 percent to 1,712 yen. Japan’s biggest soft-drink maker was raised to “buy” from “hold” by Mizuho Securities Co. analyst Hiroshi Saji.
Furuno Electric Co. (6814 JO) tumbled 9.1 percent to 522 yen. The marine-equipment maker expects net income to fall by more than half to 600 million yen ($6.04 million) in the year started March 1. The company posted a 60 percent decline in full-year profit with a 6.9 percent drop in sales for the year ended Feb. 28, citing weak demand and the stronger yen.
Gourmet Navigator Inc. (2440 JT) jumped 5.2 percent to 211,700 yen. The restaurant information provider was lifted to “buy” from “hold” by Hiroshi Yamashina, an analyst at Nikko Citigroup Ltd.
J. Front Retailing Co. (3086 JT) declined 2.1 percent to 428 yen. The retailer’s sales in March declined 14.4 percent compared with a year ago.
KDDI Corp. (9433 JT) declined 3.9 percent to 450,000 yen. Japan’s second-largest mobile-phone service provider was reduced to “underperform” from “buy” by Kei Takahashi, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co.
Kadokawa Group Holdings Inc. (9477 JT) dropped 3.9 percent to 1,919 yen. The publisher’s net loss amounted to 5.3 billion yen, wider than its forecast of a 2.24 billion yen loss, due to a decline in revenue from advertising and charges on devalued stockholdings, the company said in a preliminary earnings statement. Nikko Citigroup Ltd. analyst Soichiro Fukuda cut his rating on the company to “hold” from “buy.”
Marubeni Corp. (8002 JT) fell 2.2 percent to 406 yen. The trading company said in a preliminary earnings statement full- year net income fell below forecast after a writedown of its holdings in retailer Daiei Inc. (8263 JT) and other assets. Net income for the year ended March 31 fell 25 percent to 110 billion yen from 147 billion yen the year before. Marubeni had forecast profit of 150 billion yen. The company cut its yearend dividend to 3 yen from 7 yen. Daiei slid 0.5 percent to 392 yen.
Mixi Inc. (2121 JT) gained 2.4 percent to 386,000 yen. The operator of Japan’s largest online social-networking service was lifted to “buy” from “hold” by Nikko Citigroup Ltd. analyst Hiroshi Yamashina.
Orix JREIT Inc. (8954 JT) sank 4.1 percent to 375,000 yen. The real estate investment trust was lowered to “neutral” from “outperform” by Daiwa Institute of Research analyst Hiroshi Torii.
Plenus Co. (9945 JT) advanced 2.6 percent to 1,384 yen. The take-away meal seller forecast full-year net income will increase 28 percent to 4.06 billion yen with a 7.8 percent gain in sales. Profit in the year ended Feb. 28 was 3.18 billion yen, 39 percent lower than a year earlier. The company said it had higher costs for advertising and sales promotions as it changed its brand name for stores.
Promise Co. (8574 JT) plummeted 10 percent to 1,400 yen. The consumer finance company posted a full-year net loss of 127 billion yen, missing its forecast of 16.2 billion yen in net income, according to a preliminary earnings statement. The company earned 16 billion yen a year ago. Promise canceled its yearend dividend of 20 yen. The company also said it will discontinue its shareholder special benefit plan.
Ryohin Keikaku Co. (7453 JT) fell 3.3 percent to 3,550 yen. The retailer of Muji-brand household goods was cut to “underperform” from “neutral” by Maki Shinozaki, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.
Sanken Electric Co. (6707 JT) slumped 5.5 percent to 312 yen. The maker of semiconductors and electronic components was reduced to “underperform” from “neutral” by Masashi Kubota, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co.
Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. (8403 JT) lost 3 percent to 420 yen. Japan’s fifth-largest bank posted a 94 percent decline in full-year profit on investment losses and nonperforming loans to real estate companies. Net income fell to 5 billion yen from 82.3 billion yen a year earlier, the lender said, citing preliminary figures. Sumitomo Trust forecast net income of 30 billion yen as recently as Jan. 30.
Tokai Rika Co. (6995 JT) surged 14 percent to 1,282 yen, heading for the largest gain since September 1975. The maker of electronic parts for cars had 1.4 billion yen in net income in the year ended March 31, compared with its forecast for a 4.5 billion yen loss, it said in a preliminary earnings statement. Smaller-than-expected charges for devalued securities and cost cuts contributed to profit. The company earned 21.3 billion yen a year earlier.
Tokyo Style Co. (8112 JT) gained 2.9 percent to 722 yen. The apparel maker forecast it will have net income of 3.33 billion yen in the year started March 1, recovering from a net loss of 9.39 billion yen. The company earned 2.1 billion yen a year ago.
Toshiba Corp. (6502 JT) plunged 7.2 percent to 308 yen. The world’s second-largest maker of flash memory chips may increase its capital by 500 billion yen, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
Separately, the company will cut capital spending 42 percent this fiscal year, it said in a statement. Toshiba will also slash research expenditures by 18 percent to 320 billion yen.
To contact the reporter on this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net.
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