Rakuten Group Inc.’s move to list its online brokerage arm failed to dispel market concerns over its debt levels and ability to make mobile operations profitable, with its shares falling after the fundraising news.
The Japanese e-commerce company’s stock dropped as much as 2.9% to ¥502 ($3.5) in Tokyo Wednesday, even as the Topix share gauge rose slightly. It said the day before that Rakuten Securities Holdings Inc. has applied to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani’s online retailer has seen its shares sink to a 14-year low as its loss-making mobile business drains cash even as it faces a wall of maturing debt. Rakuten has listed its banking unit and sold shares in an additional offering since April in a bid to ease its financing woes.
“Similar to the listing of Rakuten Bank, the Rakuten Securities listing might help ease the funding pressure of the group, but it is probably just a stopgap,” said Marvin Lo, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “The underlying problem of the company is how to improve its cash-bleeding mobile business.”
Rakuten’s perpetual dollar bonds extended recent declines for an eighth day, the longest streak since March, falling 0.3 cent to 62.5 cents Wednesday. Generally in credit markets, prices under 70 cents indicate distress.
Rakuten said the unit’s listing is part of a drive to speed up decision-making at each of its various businesses that range from online shopping to finance and wireless services, in a statement Tuesday.
A Japanese credit ratings firm downgraded Rakuten last month, citing uncertainty about the outlook for profitability at the mobile phone business, while shareholder Japan Post Holdings Co. said it will book an impairment charge on its stake.
“I think the money raised will be relatively small compared to their most recent new share offering or the Rakuten Bank listing before that,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, market strategist at Asymmetric Advisors. “So it won’t make a big difference to Rakuten’s balance sheet.”
