Poll: Japan firms see English disclosure requirement as a burden, poll shows
18/04/2024 24:00
By Daniel Leussink
TOKYO, April 18 (Reuters) - Almost all Japanese
companies in a Reuters monthly corporate poll see the Tokyo
Stock Exchange's planned requirement to have top-tier firms
disclose key financial statements in English as a burden.
Most firms are still considering whether to take steps, such
as boosting shareholder returns, in response to a TSE capital
efficiency improvement drive, the poll also showed on Thursday,
highlighting pressure on listed firms amid growing scrutiny.
Japan Exchange Group's 8697.T TSE has been promoting
improved corporate governance to help listed firms become more
attractive for both domestic and foreign investors, including by
launching its Prime market in April 2022.
Other measures include a March 2023 call for the disclosure
of long-term plans to improve capital efficiency, especially if
a firm's shares are trading below book value.
In Reuters' April survey, as many as 91% of respondents said
it was a burden to make disclosure in English.
Just over half of respondents said they plan to have a
system in place to make disclosure in both Japanese and English
by April 2025, when bilingual disclosure becomes a requirement
for some 1,600 firms on the Prime market.
Over a quarter of respondents said meeting such a
requirement by that time would be difficult, while just under a
fifth said they already had a system.
The poll showed that 53% of respondents were still
considering measures in response to the capital efficiency
drive, while 23% said they had fully responded and another 22%
were unlisted. The proportion not considering a response was 3%.
Regarding such measures, just over half of firms said they
would boost investor relation activity or invest for growth over
the next six months, the poll showed.
Another 48% were looking to boost shareholder returns, while
about a quarter of respondents said they would restructure their
business portfolio.
The latest poll also showed 87% of firms were experiencing
or expecting an impact from new annual overtime limits for truck
drivers that came into effect on April 1.
The government has limited truck drivers' annual overtime to
960 hours to improve working conditions and make the work more
attractive.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents were looking at
collaborating with transportation companies to respond to the
issue, while 57% would review delivery routes and schedules and
another 47% plan to pass on costs through raising prices.
The survey was conducted for Reuters by Nikkei Research on
April 3-12, with firms responding on condition of anonymity to
allow them to speak more freely.
A total of 400 firms were polled, with the number of
responses varying from 164 to 228, depending on question.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi
Takenaka; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
((daniel.leussink@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@danielleussink;))