The Tokyo Stock Exchange has over 3,700 companies listed, and 83 companies were added in 2016.
Among those 83 companies that went public in 2016, we have picked up 9 companies based on their performance and future prospects.
Change Inc. (3962)
CHANGE Inc. is an IT and IT training company that was founded in 2003 by Yoshihisa Jimbo, Hiroshi Fukudome, Akira Itoh, Kenji Kaneda, and Tetsuya Ishihara.
The company provides IT training services on mobility, IoT, and security to large organizations in Japan.
The company handles services leading to productivity improvement in Japanese companies. There is a big market for this, because contrary to popular belief in the west, many Japanese companies are slow to take on new technology and are in need of modernization. See my blog on The Illusion of Japan as a Technological Utopia for more information on this topic.
Companies like Change (the clue is in the name!) are providing a much-needed remedy to Japan’s reluctance to update its practices.
In 2018, Change partnered with Mitsui & Co. to create a new company called Voicestart (Japanese) which provides voice recognition services for Japanese companies.
The business has seen impressive growth over the last few years, and in particular its operating profit more than tripled in the company’s financial year ending September 2020, jumping from JPY ¥1.08 billion (approx. USD $[convert number =1,080,000,000 from “jpy” to=”usd”]) to JPY ¥3.63 billion (approx. USD $[convert number =3,630,000,000 from “jpy” to=”usd”]) (Japanese).
BayCurrent Consulting, Inc. (6532)
BayCurrent Consulting, Inc. was founded by Yoshiyuki Abe in 1998. The company provides services such as IT consulting, strategy, and system integration.
The strategy business covers digital strategy, internationalization, M&A, and sales and marketing services. Like Change Inc. above, BayCurrent are helping traditional Japanese companies to modernize.
The company also works on system design, infrastructure operation, development and maintenance. According to statistics, BayCurrent Consulting Inc. is performing extremely well having net income growth reaching up to +99.38% and sales or revenue growth +37.33% in the last quarter.
Phil Company (3267)
Phil Company was founded on June 3, 2005, by Nobuaki Takahashi. It is a consulting and construction company that has the unique specialty of developing the unused space above parking lots Japan.
The company handles everything from project planning and project management, design and supervision, business consulting, development and research, through to construction and even initial tenant recruitment.
Until August 2020, its revenue had decreased 36% to Y2.47B and its share price has more than halved in that time. There are still many unused spaces above car parks all over Japan, so depending on the economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis, we may see this one climb back up.
MS – JAPAN (6539)
MS – JAPAN is an abbreviation of Matching Service Japan Co., Ltd. This Japanese company was founded in 1990, by Takahiro Arimoto.
The company mainly operates in the recruitment business for professions such as lawyers, accountants and business managers.
The personal introduction business division involves recruitment services and the Other Incidental Business division handles M&A intermediate services, temporary staffing, accounting and law firm search sites, and the operation of other recruitment sites.
The company’s stock price took a dive in 2020 after the downturn caused by the COVID 19 outbreak, as the company’s net income reduced by 20.18% and sales were down 12.43%.
However, there are chances of its net income growth if and when the economy rebounds, as there may well be a backlog of people wanting to switch jobs who did not feel comfortable doing it during the pandemic.
PR TIMES (3922)
PR TIMES, Inc. is a commercial services provider in Japan that was founded in 2005, and is operated by Vector Inc., a large PR and Media headquartered in Tokyo.
Its services include press release delivery and the PR Times press release service is the go-to option for most large Japanese companies.
The company also provides analysis of PR effectiveness, PR planning and media promotion, it manages news sites and provides social media marketing.
This company has been performing well and its business model has proven to be robust in the face of the COVID-19 downturn. The quarterly net income growth of PR TIMES Inc. was +696.39% and Sales or Revenue Growth was +31.70% in the quarterly analysis in August 2020.
JM HLDG (3539)
JM Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Japanese retail trade company that deals with wholesale and retail of general food products, vegetables, fresh fruits, meat packs, and fresh fish etc.
It is one of the oldest retailers and wholesalers in Japan as it was founded in 1945 by Hakukaku Sakai.
The company owns a variety of supermarket chains (including Niku No Hanamasa, where I used to buy cheap meat when I was a student in Tokyo!). JM Holdings also owns a barbecue restaurant business.
The most recent quarterly net income growth of JM HOLDING Co., Ltd was +18.09% and Sales or Revenue Growth was +8.57%.
G-Race (6541)
G-Race, an abbreviation of Grace Technology, Inc., is an industrial tech company which was founded in 2000.
The company is involved in planning, consulting, and composition of manuals for industrial machinery and related software.
Grace Technology Inc. operates through two segments: Manual Made-To-Order Service (MOS) segment and Manual Management System (MMS). The Manual Made to Order segment provides translation work and technical writing of manuals, while the manual management segment handles services for introducing, planning, and operating core system e-manuals.
The company has seen a big increase in sales since the outbreak of COVID 19, as the demand for technological products and services has been increasing.
Komeda Holdings (3543)
Komeda Holdings Co. Ltd. is a consumer services based Japanese company which was founded on November 28, 2014.
The company manages a coffee shop franchise business with a group of companies. The franchise operates Kanmi Kissa Okagean (Japanese) and Komeda Coffee Shop brands.
The company is not performing well due to unfavorable market conditions and quarterly net was down 27.94% in the last quarter.
Solasto (6197)
Solasto Corp. was founded in October 1965, and is mainly engaged in the provision of medical and welfare services.
The company provides commercial services including medical outsourcing, childcare and elder care services.
In medical outsourcing, the company provides accounting, hospital management support, administration and medical fee billing.
The elder care and childcare services segments includes home help services, home care support, day care services, nursing homes, and short-term inpatient care services.
Solasto Corp. is performing great with a 7% increase in its revenue at the end of June 2020. With Japan being a famously ageing population, the company’s earnings are forecast to grow 12.96% per year.