Yahoo Applies to List on Tokyo Exchange
TOKYO (AP) — Yahoo Japan Corp., which runs Japan’s leading Internet portal, announced Friday it has applied for listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, more than five years after its initial public sale of shares.
The company, an affiliate of Japan’s Softbank Corp. and Yahoo! Inc. of the United States, said in a statement it submitted an application to the exchange on July 8.
Buoyed by the news, Yahoo Japan shares shot up 7.3 percent to 2.05 million yen (US$21,000). Shares of Softbank also rose, ending the day up 2.6 percent at 3,150 yen (US$26.50).
Analysts said the company, which first listed on Japan’s Jasdaq over-the-counter market in November 1997, could debut on the TSE – and delist from the Jasdaq – as early as August. They cheered the company’s decision, but said the impact of the TSE listing announcement was muted by reports in March of Yahoo Japan’s plans.
After Japanese financial markets closed Friday, Yahoo Japan said net profits for the April-June quarter more than doubled to 4.54 billion yen (US$38.2 million), from 2.18 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. The company attributed the rise to brisk sales from its online auction and broadband services.
Yahoo Japan’s market capitalization, at about 1.8 trillion yen (US$15.1 billion), is the largest of any company listed on Jasdaq, and accounts for a fifth of the market’s total value.
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