Terumo's ¥3bn recall, ¥38bn question

Nonresidents net bought ¥11.35tn of Japanese securities in October, ¥7.86tn of it equities and investment fund shares, while Japanese residents net bought ¥1.95tn of foreign securities.

Members of an FSA study group said heavy redemptions at a large issuer of electronic payment instruments could force sales of the government bonds backing them, and asked whether current rules are sufficient.

ORIX's ¥856.2bn half-year net income rests on the ORIX Bank sale gain and Toshiba-related equity-method income in APAC, so the 35.8% annualised return on equity is a poor gauge of normal earnings.

What changed: Net income attributable to shareholders was ¥856.2bn for the six months to 30 September 2026, against ¥271.1bn a year earlier. Equity-method income reached ¥809.6bn, and APAC segment profit rose to ¥916.4bn from ¥125.7bn on Toshiba-related equity-method gains, including Kioxia share valuation gains taken in with a three-month lag, and a gain on the sale of SGK Holdings. An impairment on China Water Affairs partly offset them. The ORIX Bank sale, completed on 3 August, is reported as discontinued operations: ¥125.4bn before tax, including a ¥124.3bn gain on the sale, and ¥89.5bn after tax. Continuing operations contributed ¥766.7bn of attributable net income. The 35.8% return on equity, up from 12.7%, is calculated on net income that includes the bank gain.

What to watch: Some equity-method investees report on a three-month lag, and the half-year report expects the effect of share-price moves in the listed stocks they hold to show up in the third quarter.

ENEOS reported operating profit of ¥706.1bn for April to September 2026, against ¥166.7bn a year earlier, but excluding inventory effects the figure is ¥443.8bn, up ¥170.3bn. Renewables took ¥111.8bn of impairments, and the $758mn TPC Holdings purchase closed.

What changed: The petroleum products segment earned ¥573.3bn, including a ¥262.3bn accounting gain from inventory against a ¥106.8bn loss a year earlier. Excluding that effect, segment profit was ¥311.0bn, up ¥137.3bn. The report credits wider export margins as overseas product prices rose on Middle East tensions. Operating cash flow was ¥326.3bn against ¥334.3bn, with the inventory build absorbing ¥540.1bn.

The catch: Renewables swung to an operating loss of ¥111.4bn from a ¥1.1bn profit. Of the ¥111.8bn of segment impairments, ¥85.5bn hit solar and wind units that carried goodwill, and group goodwill fell to ¥11.8bn from ¥74.2bn at the end of March. The report ties the charge to the pace of decarbonisation, higher development costs and rising interest rates.

What to watch: ENEOS completed the cash purchase of TPC Holdings, a North American C4 chemicals group, on 26 October US time, for an estimated $758mn. The report records the Chevron downstream purchase as an agreement signed on 14 May and gives no price or completion date. The board agreed on 23 October to buy 65% of NIPPO's parent holding company, a step still pending.

DIC raised its forecast for the year to December 2026 on 12 November, lifting expected operating profit to ¥100bn from ¥78bn, up 28.2%, and sales to ¥1.18tn from ¥1.14tn. The prior year's operating profit was ¥52.2bn.

The move: DIC said strong AI semiconductor demand lifted epoxy resin and industrial tape shipments in Functional Products, and that Packaging & Graphics sold more higher-value jet and security inks. It also cited quick price responses to raw-material inflation and tighter cost control.

By the numbers: Over the nine months to 30 September, sales were ¥895.3bn, up 13.9%, and operating profit was ¥79.5bn, up 96.5%. Chemitronics, the unit that makes epoxy resins for package and printed-circuit boards, grew sales 24.2% to ¥58.0bn and operating profit to ¥12.1bn from ¥5.4bn.

The catch: Color & Display is the drag. DIC expects a fourth-quarter loss in the segment for seasonal reasons, and colour-filter pigment shipments slowed in the third quarter after a surge in television replacement demand ahead of the World Cup. The annual dividend forecast is unchanged at ¥150 a share.

CHANGE Holdings now guides attributable profit for the year to March 2027 at between a ¥2.2bn loss and a ¥1.6bn profit, against ¥6.69bn to ¥7.31bn in its 14 May forecast, and has made the year-end dividend undetermined instead of ¥26 a share.

What changed: In the six months to September the group recognised a goodwill impairment on EG, a 53.2%-owned subsidiary that runs outsourced work such as social-media post monitoring. The parent's share is ¥5.97bn. Management says AI adoption changed EG's business environment, and describes the charge as non-cash with no direct effect on group cash flow.

What happened: The second hit sits in the second half. A third party gained unauthorised access to Furusato Choice, run by subsidiary Trust Bank, on 17 October, and the company has confirmed the leak of records for 4,454,097 members. The web version reopened on 6 November after 18 days and the app on 9 November. The top of the new range assumes donation volume 20% below what the company expected before the incident, and the bottom assumes 60% below.

What to watch: The company carries cyber insurance with a ¥2bn limit, and donation applications concentrate in October to December, so the second half is normally the larger revenue half. Operating profit is now guided at ¥0 to ¥6.0bn, down from ¥11.5bn to ¥12.5bn.

Tokyo Century has sold 50% of SKY-U to Itochu for $1.946bn, deconsolidating Aviation Capital Group but keeping a 50% stake; the roughly ¥38bn profit effect is expected in the third quarter.

What changed: The transfer of 50.0% of the issued shares of TC Skyward Aviation U.S., Inc. (SKY-U) completed on 12 November 2026. SKY-U and its wholly owned subsidiary Aviation Capital Group LLC (ACG) have left Tokyo Century's consolidated subsidiaries and are now equity-method affiliates. Tokyo Century transferred 3,118 SKY-U shares and retains 3,118, also 50.0%.

Why it matters: The share counts differ from those announced on 3 August because SKY-U acquired treasury shares from Tokyo Century before the transfer, which changed both the pre-transfer holding and the number sold. Before the deal Tokyo Century held 6,236 SKY-U shares, a 100.0% voting stake.

What to watch: Tokyo Century expects the transfer to affect profit attributable to owners of the parent by about ¥38bn in the third quarter of the year ending March 2027. That is an expectation, not a booked figure. The company points to its 9 November release revising full-year forecasts and dividends for the guidance effect.

SmartNews's planned 15 December Tokyo listing is a sale by existing shareholders: 8,081,500 shares offered by investors and the board chairman, valued at ¥11.23bn on an assumed price of ¥1,390 that will not be fixed until 7 December. The section for new-share offerings is marked not applicable.

Details: The chairman is the largest seller at 1,885,600 shares, ahead of Atomico III at 901,900, Globis Fund IV at 600,200 and MIXI at 435,600. A greenshoe of up to 1,212,200 shares, worth ¥1.68bn at the assumed price, is borrowed from the chairman. Existing holders and the company have agreed to a lockup until 12 June 2027, which the three joint lead managers can waive.

By the numbers: In the nine months to September 2026, revenue rose 11.9% to ¥28.05bn and operating profit reached ¥4.01bn, against a ¥1.09bn loss a year earlier. US revenue rose 41.3% to ¥8.21bn.

The catch: The filing discloses a Mississippi copyright suit from a media company over more than 2,000 articles, for which SmartNews has booked a provision of US$1.5mn but says a payout could exceed that, and an incident of unauthorised third-party access to parts of its systems whose scope is still under investigation.