Daiwa Securities Group Inc

TSE:8601

Earnings Call Transcript 2018-Q3

[Mikita Komatsu, executive]

I am Komatsu from Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join our telephone conference today.

I'd like to explain the results of the third quarter of FY 2017, which we have just announced today, along the presentation material we have uploaded on our homepage. Please turn to Page 4. Let me first take you through the summary of the consolidated results. Increase and decrease shown in this material are versus Q2 of FY 2017.

Net operating revenues of Q3 in 2017 were JPY 134.9 billion, up 3.1%. In the Retail Division, net operating revenue increased, driven by increase in equity trading volume and stock investment trust sales on the back of strong markets growth in Japan and abroad. In the Wholesale Division, global investment banking maintained strong performance. In the global market, equity revenues increased, driven by higher client flow.

We were able to keep ordinary income high at JPY 43.2 billion, although it decreased very slightly, down 1.4% on the tough comp basis vis-à-vis Q2, when we had a capital gain on an exit of a large deal in the investment division. Profit attributable to owners of the parent was JPY 32.2 billion, up 1.2%. Annualized ROE was 10.0%, and BPS was JPY 786.83.

Please turn to Page 10. Let me explain P/L Summary. Commission received was JPY 85.5 billion, up 8.6%. We are disclosing the breakdown of commission received in detail on Page 23, but briefly, brokerage commission was JPY 21.7 billion, up 30.4%, driven by increase in stock trading volume. Underwriting commission was JPY 9.8 billion, down 24%, due to tough comp Q-on-Q, even though equity underwriting business was solid. On the other hand, distribution commission was JPY 13.2 billion, up 22.6%, driven by strong stock investment trust sales.

Net trading income was JPY 30.4 billion, up 31.9%, on the back of increase in equity trading and FICC recovery. Net gain on private equity was down 55.2% Q-on-Q to JPY 6.2 billion with gains booked on exit of investments. Total income tax amounted to JPY 11.2 billion. This includes a little bit less than JPY 900 million of an impact from U.S. tax cuts from a reversal of DTA arising from a temporary difference in our local entity.

Please turn to Page 11. Let me explain the breakdown of SG&A. Trading-related expenses were JPY 18.4 billion, down 0.9%, due to lower advertising expenses for promotions. Personnel expenses were JPY 48.3 billion, up 8.4%, as bonus linked to earnings increased and 2 newly consolidated M&A advisory companies. Real estate expenses, office cost and depreciation were, respectively, JPY 9 billion, up 2.6%; JPY 6.7 billion, up 3.6%, and JPY 6.1 billion, up 1.8% due to increase in system-related expenses and others. As a result, total SG&A ended up with JPY 94.7 billion, up 4.2%.

Please turn to Page 13. Next, I'd like to explain ordinary income of overseas operation. Ordinary income of overseas operation in total was JPY 1.7 billion, down 54.9% Q-on-Q, which marked a positive ordinary income for 7 quarters in a row.

Now let's discuss by region, starting with Europe. Equity business performed well. On the other hand, IB business, including DCA, Daiwa Corporate Advisory, and FICC slowed down. Asia-Oceania posted an increase in income, thanks to strong wealth management business and equity. Income in the Americas was lower due to booking amortization of goodwill associated with 2 M&A advisory companies, although equity business was strong on the back of increase in equity trading.

Let me next explain details in each segment. Please turn to Page 14. Allow me to further explain the results of the Retail Division. Net operating revenues were up by 16.2% to JPY 59.5 billion, and the ordinary income was up by 69.4% to JPY 18 billion, marking a huge increase in earnings. Equity revenue rose due to the increase in trading volume for both domestic and foreign equities. Fixed income revenue also increased with the growth of sales amount for structured bonds. Distribution commission for investment trust rose by 22.4% due to the increase in the stock investment trust sales. Agency fee for investment trust increased by 1.0%, in line with the growing asset under custody, thanks to market appreciation. Other revenues increased by 5.0% from the rise in investment advisory and account management fees, which is related to the wrap service business.

Please turn to Page 15. This page shows the major topics of this quarter and the situation relative to sales and distribution amount by product in Daiwa's Retail Division. As for wrap account service, the product lineup was expanded after October 2016, leading to a steady increase in contract amount. In addition, value appreciation by strong markets led to record-high contract AUM. As for stock investment trust, the sales were favorable for the funds focusing on overseas stocks, such as U.S. mid-cap growth stocks and Indian stocks. And funds investing mainly in IoT or robot-related stocks continue to perform well from the last quarter. As for foreign equities, backed by the record-high level of major U.S. stock indices, customers continued to show an appetite for investment, and we have endeavored to provide appropriate information to them. As a result, the number of new accounts increased and net purchases of foreign equities increased, delivering record-high trading volume of JPY 387.2 billion.

Please look at Page 16. Let me explain the results of the Wholesale Division. As for global markets, net operating revenues were up by 8.5% to JPY 32.6 billion and ordinary income was up by 24.6% to JPY 9.8 billion. As for equities, backed by the favorable market environment for both domestic and overseas, the order flow for domestic and foreign equities increased, boosting the overall equity revenues. As for trading revenue, JCB made a recovery Q-on-Q, but the client flow decreased for credit. Thanks to the growing sales of structured bonds, fixed income revenue increased slightly.

Please look at Page 18. This slide explains the global investment banking operations. Net operating revenues were up by 1.0% to JPY 13 billion, and the ordinary income was down by 41.8% to JPY 2.7 billion. The factors behind the increase in revenue and decrease in earnings were the consolidation of 2 M&A firms in the U.S., resulting in additional cost and goodwill amortization. As for equity underwriting, we continue to accumulate lead managed deals, such as serving as the global coordinator for the Global IPO of SG Holdings, which was the largest IPO in FY 2017. As for debt underwriting, we served as a lead manager for multiple benchmark bonds and built our track record in straight bonds and subordinated bonds. As for M&A, we were instrumental in executing various deals in domestic, overseas and cross-border. Signal Hill, our newly consolidated subsidiary in Q3, contributed to the revenues as well.

Please look at Page 19. Let me explain the results of Asset Management Division. Net operating revenues were up by 4.2% to JPY 12.6 billion, and the ordinary income was up by 4.9% to JPY 7.4 billion. Daiwa Asset Management increased its AUM and grew both its revenues and earnings due to the brisk market and securing of the net asset inflow.

Please look at Page 21. This page shows the results of the, Investment Division. Net operating revenues were down 54.5% to JPY 6.3 billion, and the ordinary income was down by 58% to JPY 5.5 billion. This has been the explanation on the results of the third quarter of FY 2017. So in the third quarter, the Nikkei average renewed its record-high number in 26 years. Likewise, New York Dow reached a record high.

So helped by the positive market environment, many clients have gone through a successful investment experience. On the other hand despite this positive environment, there are many prospect clients who have not started to invest or rather hesitate to invest. So as far as Daiwa is concerned, we would like to provide that successful experience to as many clients as possible. And through delivering the appropriate advice through our quality sales reps, we would like to provide attractive products to the respective clients. So by steadily working on the expansion of investment and asset formulation, we would like to maximize the profit of the customers and also contribute to the development of the Japanese economy. We would like to ask for your continued support.