TOKYO — As the stock sell-off continues here, a number of companies are trading at price-to-book ratios of less than 1, reflecting investor concerns over corporate earnings.
As of Tuesday, 53% of companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section traded below book value, the most in two and a half years. Sell orders were pronounced among short-term speculators in the face of the strong yen, but buyers were absent, said Basil Dan, head of equity sales at Credit Suisse Securities (Japan).
Long-term institutional investors and individuals joined the selling spree, signaling a lack of faith in even companies with solid earnings. Pretax profit is seen rising just 2% this fiscal year. The lift from the weak yen is fading,…
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