RAKUTEN Group Inc. shares tumbled by the most in five weeks after the Japanese e-commerce firm reported a 19th straight quarterly loss.
The stock plunged as much as 10% in Tokyo on Thursday, its biggest intraday drop since April 7. The company’s net loss for the three months to March widened to ¥73.47 billion ($500 million) from ¥42.39 billion a year ago, after financing costs mounted and as it sought to turn around its sluggish wireless operations. The loss exceeded analysts’ forecast of ¥40.38 billion.
A decision by billionaire founder Hiroshi Mikitani to enter Japan’s saturated cellular network market in 2014 has been pressuring Rakuten’s earnings, even as business booms in its online shopping and finance operations.
Rakuten Group’s mobile segment posted a loss that narrowed to ¥59.3 billion from a year earlier, it said in a release Wednesday. The number of mobile subscribers rose by 4% from the previous quarter, while average revenue per user slightly decreased to ¥2,078.
“Contracts and average revenue per user are weak and income is sluggish, with no apparent catalysts to drive share price recovery,” Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co. analysts including Tetsuro Tsusaka wrote in a note.
The burden of financial expenses, such as interest payments on overseas bonds, also continues to weigh on earnings. Further improvements in the mobile business may be needed to help boost its credit rating and break its financial downward spiral.
Chief Executive Officer Mikitani said at a press briefing Wednesday that the company will focus on improving communication quality and increasing awareness to attract new users. Rakuten plans to install an additional 10,000 base stations within 2025, aiming to eliminate areas with no signal and ease network congestion in densely populated areas.
Rakuten Group will likely see limited potential impact from the US’ so-called reciprocal tariffs, Jefferies Japan Ltd. analysts including Hiroko Sato wrote in a note, adding that the company expects no actual earnings impact at this point. –BLOOMBERG
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