April - Co-op sold banned radiated spinach

Co-op sold banned spinach | The Japan Times Online

CHIBA — A Tokyo-based cooperative has delivered spinach grown in the town of Tako, Chiba Prefecture, to consumers in three eastern prefectures despite a government ban on shipments due to concerns about radiation, the Chiba Prefectural Government said Thursday.

Some of the 74 lots of Tako-grown spinach - home-delivered by Pal System Consumers Cooperative Union to 70 households in Gunma, Saitama and Chiba prefectures - had already been consumed, it said.

A dealer in the town of Shibayama, which also has vegetable fields in Tako, shipped the spinach in question as part of 380 lots on April 10 and has said it did not know of the shipment ban, prompting the local government to issue a verbal warning, it said.

Pal System, a co-op association formed by nine consumer cooperatives in Tokyo and nine surrounding prefectures, claimed it thought there were no problems with the spinach shipped, as the dealer was based in Shibayama, but was alerted to the possibility of a problem through documents submitted by the dealer.

It tried to exclude Tako products from its delivery service, but failed to entirely prevent their delivery, it said, apologizing for the trouble, while adding it had detected small amounts of radioactive iodine and cesium far below the allowable levels in some produce.

On March 25, the Chiba Prefectural Government urged producers and dealers to voluntarily refrain from shipping spinach grown in Tako.

On April 4, the central government imposed a ban due to radiation concerns on the shipment of spinach grown in the town as well as the neighboring city of Katori.

The government also banned at the time the shipment of spinach, parsley, celery, bok choy, garland chrysanthemum and "sanchu" Korean lettuce from the city of Asahi, also in the prefecture.

On April 13, major supermarket chain Aeon Co. said it had sold sanchu leaves produced in Asahi at its retail stores for nine days through April 7, despite the shipment ban imposed after the prefecture directed that the produce be voluntarily kept off the market.

Aeon said at that time that even if consumed, the produce posed no threat to human health because the amount of radioactive material found on it was below the allowable limit

Cigarette sales drop 10.1% in FY 2010, largest fall on record+

Cigarette sales drop 10.1% in FY 2010, largest fall on record+:

"Sales of cigarettes in Japan in fiscal 2010 plunged 10.1 percent from a year earlier to 210.2 billion cigarettes, marking the largest fall on record, due to a sharp rise in prices, the Tobacco Institute of Japan said Friday.
The decline in sales, the sharpest since comparable date became available in 1990, stemmed from weakening demand as cigarette prices spiked following the imposition of the largest-ever tobacco tax hike on Oct. 1.

The sales value in the business year ended March increased 2.0 percent from the year before to 3,616.3 billion yen, the institute said.

By cigarette brand, Seven Stars topped the ranking for the third straight year, accounting for 4.8 percent of the sales volume."

Japan Leisure Hotels Announcements | Japan Leisure Hotels: Proposed Disposal

Investegate |Japan Leisure Hotels Announcements | Japan Leisure Hotels: Proposed Disposal

Japan Leisure Hotels announced that it is selling its 6 hotels and business for JPY1.4bn - a discount of 70% on the JPY5bn value claimed by JLH for the assets. The JPY5bn value was basically the original investment amount into the assets by hedge fund DKR Oasis - although most of this was invested in around 2005 and 2006 when most of the hotels were originally acquired and renovated.

JLH was listed on AIM in January 2008 at 50P a share trying to raise GBP100m; but eventually only raised GBP3 million before expenses.
http://www.propertyweek.com/investors-turned-off-by-love-hotels/3103082.article

JLH came to AIM offering

investors an absolute return, supported by a ‘stable and growing’ income stream.

http://blog.amoncorp.com/?eid=533342
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/nov/08/investing.japan

In August 2008, using the proceeds from its IPO, JLH acquired another hotel to take its total to 6 hotels
http://www.lse.co.uk/FinanceNews.asp?ArticleCode=w8bn7w49qp4ten8&ArticleHeadline=Japan_Leisure_Hotels_buys_additional_leisure_hotel_for_410_mln_yen

In May 2009, JLH went back to the market, unsuccessfully, looking to raise GBP50million
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23693741-japan-love-hotels-owner-seeks-50m-for-growth.do

Another attempt was made to raise equity in its 3rd year on AIM in May 2010.

http://cachef.ft.com/cms/s/0/e5615554-592a-11df-adc3-00144feab49a.html#axzz1LMqKQO13

But again this was unsuccessful - even though this attempt was made after the payment by JLH of its first ever dividend of 1P per share (total - GBP440,000 on an investment of GBP20m) in 2010 - as its analyst Hardman put it in May 2010 -

Japan Leisure Hotels (LON:JPLH, market cap £24m) produced results ahead of our forecast this morning. We are both pleased and reassured by the numbers. There is a maiden dividend, and EBITDA margins are at an all time high. The business model has been proved and we believe a capital raising to purchase more hotels would be good news for shareholders.

http://www.stockopedia.co.uk/research/good-results-proof-of-business-40436/

But 2 months later, in July 2010, Hardman hurriedly had to re-issue a restatement of their guidance -
http://www.stockopedia.co.uk/research/reaction-to-trading-statement-45157/
as JLH revenues and EBITDA and share price began to slide in 2010 as it was hit by a loss of revenues due the closing of their most recently acquired hotel for renovations - leaving it closed the first half of 2010, and also loss of market share to competitors and their hotels requiring refurbishments (ie., further investment) -

Japan Leisure Hotels warns that revenue and EBITDA for the year to the end of December will be lower than current market expectations. 

The Yokkaichi hotel was closed for renovation for the majority of the first six months of the current financial year. 

Some other hotels were experiencing reduced occupancy due to competitors aggressively reducing prices and some hotels nearing their scheduled refurbishment. 

The firm said: "The asset manager is taking immediate steps to address these short term issues, where possible, and is confident that it they will be quickly resolved." 

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/20100722/japan-leisure-hotels-revenue-below-market-forecasts.htm

In December 2010, JLH's main investor DKR Oasis announced it was selling out  - presumably as it was faced with holding an investment which on top of providing little or no yield since its inception in 2005 - was now faced with declining revenues and with the operator foreshadowing requirements for future investments in renovations.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/15a512b6-0d2e-11e0-82ff-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LNI0zBZp

JLH says that investors can expect to get 22P a share on winding up. The FT reports on the deal as follows-

In some cases, boards are not entirely happy with the prices being paid when companies with dominant shareholders are sold...

Now the board of Japan Leisure has announced “considerable misgivings about the price to be paid for the trading subsidiaries, especially in view of its underlying value as a going concern”...

The company tried to raise £100m in 2007, convinced that it would be able to consolidate the fragmented Japanese industry. But it had to settle for £3m at 50p a share, leaving DKR Oasis, a US hedge fund that specialised in pre-IPO fundraising in Asia, holding 88 per cent of the shares. Another attempt at a £50m fundraising in 2009 failed.

At the end of last year DKR announced that it wanted to realise its investment and last week JLH said that it had agreed to sell its operations to Sanglier, a private buyer, for £10.4m. Shareholders were told to expect to receive 22p a share from the deal, against the last reported net asset value of 77p a share.

The company is being realistic about its position, pointing out that DKR could push the deal through regardless of the board’s misgivings about the price. The simple truth is that, even allowing for the credit crisis and Japan’s natural disasters, the flotation should never have gone ahead. The market’s lack of interest was clear from the beginning.

 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31b0e34c-7672-11e0-b05b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LNI0zBZp

Nintendo's annual profit down 66 percent to $947M - Yahoo! News

Nintendo's annual profit down 66 percent to $947M - Yahoo! News

BBC News - Japan's small firms struggle to stay afloat after quake

BBC News - Japan's small firms struggle to stay afloat after quake:

Another challenge for businesses is Jishuku, the voluntary self-restraint mood that people have been in.

"Travel agents and hotels are also affected because jishuku," says Mr Oohira of Tokyo Shoko Research.

"Out of solidarity with those in disaster-hit areas, people are cancelling their trips to enjoy hot springs for example."

By 26 April, some 22 firms hade gone bust because of the earthquake. and a further 27 had started their preparations to file for bankruptcy, too.

Out of the 49 companies, there were eight hotels and three travel agents.

"The pessimistic mood is evident in a monthly survey conducted by the National Federation of Small Business Associations.

'The result for March was much worse than expected,' says Masaru Oikawa of the Federation.

'Small businesses are suffering much more than after the Kobe earthquake or the Lehman shock.'

The government has freed up funds for them.

Financial institutions are also doing their part to prevent cash-flow problems and a domino effect resulting in further bankruptcies.

Norinchukin bank, for example, is offering interest-free loans worth $36.7bn to farmers and fishermen.

'So far, there are enough funds and that's why we haven't seen too many bankruptcies yet,' says Mr Oikawa of the National Federation of Small Business Association."

Disney Reopens But Hard times for Mickey

Hard times for Mickey | The Japan Times Online

The national mood of self-restraint in the face of the disaster in the Tohoku-Pacific region, the dropoff in visitors from abroad because of the nuclear threat, and the uncertainty of the electricity supply in the all-important summer months spell hard times for Tokyo Disneyland and other Japanese leisure facilities.

However, the rolling outages and restrictions on mass transit in the Tokyo area after the quake forced Tokyo Disneyland to close until April 15. It then reopened for limited hours to 6 p.m. with energy conservation in effect for interior lighting, escalators, and fountains.

On April 23 it extended its hours to 10 p.m. and resumed its popular evening electric parade. (A spokesman explained that the lighted floats are powered by batteries that are recharged late in the night when demand for electricity is low.)

However, it still faces the problem of sufficient electricity for the summer, as it relies on Tokyo Electric Power Co. for total daily consumption at the two parks of 570,000 kilowatts.

Therefore, it is purchasing three generators run on natural gas at a cost of ¥300 million. Longer term, a new Disney theme park near Shanghai — groundbreaking took place April 8 — threatens to draw away Chinese and other Asian tourists.

It is to be hoped that such a well-run and well-loved facility as Tokyo Disneyland can overcome its difficulties and continue to provide promise of a return to happier times, as Mickey Mouse and other characters did on their visits to evacuation centers in
Miyagi Prefecture on April 23 and 24.

Japan to Release Secret Radiation Data Despite Fear of Mass Panic

Japan to Release Secret Radiation Data Despite Fear of Mass Panic « VOA Breaking News

Japanese officials say they will begin releasing data on the potential spread of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident that has been withheld for fear of causing mass panic.

National NHK television said the data would be posted Tuesday on websites operated by the Science Ministry and nuclear regulatory agencies.

Goshi Hosono, head of a task force dealing with the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, said Monday the government has made about 5,000 measurements through a computer system designed to project radiation patterns in the event of various scenarios.

He said the data have not been released for fear that some of the worst-case scenarios could cause mass panic. But he said the government now believes that, even if the information is shocking, panic can be avoided with proper explanations.

Hosono apologized for the delay in releasing the data.

Japan's national police say more than 14,700 people are now confirmed dead in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out the cooling systems at the plant and led to the leakage of radiation.

Another 10,800 people still are unaccounted for, while about 126,000 still are living in temporary shelters.