BOJ Holds at 1%, One Board Member Says Not Fast Enough

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) is offering ¥10,600 a share to take full control of dry-bulk carrier NS United Kaiun Kaisha (TSE: 9110), a premium of roughly 37% over the target's last close before the announcement. NS United Kaiun's board has agreed to back the bid and recommend that shareholders tender their stock.

The catch: The target's board also voted to cut its dividend forecast to zero, down from a previously guided ¥295 a share, but that cut only takes effect if the tender offer actually closes, turning the dividend into a bet on deal certainty rather than a guaranteed payout. The structure: Top shareholder Nippon Steel has separately agreed to accept a lower price in a second-stage buyback, easing NYK's path to full ownership without requiring it to match the headline tender price for every seller.

Kamgras 1 Kabushiki Kaisha, the vehicle bidding to take Kakaku.com (TSE: 2371) private, pushed back its tender offer deadline for the fourth time since the bid opened, filing a correction notice on July 31 that stretches the offer period to August 17 from an earlier August 3 cutoff. The current offer price stands at ¥3,450 a share, raised from ¥3,000 on July 17. The pressure: Bain Capital and LINE Yahoo have floated a higher counter-proposal, forcing Kamgras to reopen price talks rather than wait out the clock on its original bid.

Why it matters: A ninth amendment to the same tender offer statement, following corrections filed across May, June and July, shows how contested this deal has become since it opened on May 13.

Murata Manufacturing posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue for the three months to June, at ¥502.3bn, up 20.7% from a year earlier, as AI server and data-center demand pulled orders higher across its electronic components lines. Operating profit rose 59.8% to ¥98.5bn and net profit climbed 63.7% to ¥81.4bn. The guidance bump: Murata raised its full-year revenue forecast by ¥150bn and operating-profit forecast by ¥50bn above April's target, lifting the profit guide 13% to a record ¥430bn.

Why it matters: A components maker raising guidance mid-year on AI server demand, rather than just riding a weak yen, points to real order growth further down the electronics supply chain.

Sony Group's quarter to June delivered revenue up 8.2% to ¥2.84tn and operating profit up 40.2% to ¥476.5bn, driven by image sensors and PlayStation. Net profit rose 32.1% to ¥342.2bn, and diluted earnings per share climbed from ¥42.84 to ¥57.82. The gap in the guide: Sony used the beat to raise its full-year profit target to ¥1.72tn, but that guidance does not yet include any hit from the July earthquake that shut its Kumamoto chip plant, a sensor-manufacturing site central to this quarter's growth.

What to watch: The next update will need to show whether Kumamoto downtime dents the sensor business enough to offset this quarter's momentum.

Daiichi Sankyo's revenue for the quarter to June rose 21.1% year-on-year to ¥574.7bn, and core operating profit grew 6.2% to ¥107.3bn, driven by cancer drugs Enhertu and Datroway. Statutory operating profit fell 12.0% to ¥85.1bn, and net profit dropped 19.7% to ¥68.6bn. The split: The company raised its full-year revenue and operating-profit guidance while cutting its full-year net profit forecast by ¥9bn, a gap that traces to a jump in the effective tax rate to 24.9% rather than weakness in the drug business itself.

Why it matters: Enhertu is on pace to cross ¥1tn in annual sales, a scale that also flows through to co-promotion partner AstraZeneca's own oncology numbers.

DENSO's revenue for the quarter to June rose 9.1% year-on-year to ¥1.91tn on higher vehicle sales and expanded sales of electrification and intelligent-driving components. Operating profit fell 21.5% to ¥84.2bn, as gains from a weaker yen were outweighed by higher costs for copper and aluminum plus continued growth spending. Net profit dropped 14.4% to ¥67.9bn. The

read-through: DENSO raised its full-year revenue forecast but held profit guidance flat, a sign that metal-cost inflation is expected to keep eating into margins for the rest of the year.

Japan's farm ministry and the National Tax Agency have opened a 30-day public comment window, running through August 29, on draft ordinances that would force any business handling at least 300 tonnes of rice a year, from farms to convenience-store chains, to register with the government and file regular inventory reports. Producers would report twice yearly in January and July, while retailers, processors, and food-service operators handling that volume would report annually. The bigger shift: The rules implement a revision to the Staple Food Law that also scraps the old rice production-adjustment guidance and shuts down the Rice Price Formation Center.

What to watch: Registration starts in October, but the reporting requirement itself does not become mandatory until the following spring.

Nine people died at Nippon Paper Industries' Yatsushiro Mill in Kumamoto Prefecture after an earthquake struck the region, the company said in a filing dated July 31. The dead include six Nippon Paper employees and three workers from partner companies who were at the site; everyone else who was at the mill that day has since been confirmed safe. The response: The company has set up a Crisis Management Headquarters led by its president and halted production at the mill while it assesses damage.

What to watch: Nippon Paper says it will draw on output from other plants and existing inventory to keep supply flowing while Yatsushiro stays offline, with no date yet given for a restart.