Shiseido Co. posted its steepest decline in 16 years after the Japanese cosmetics maker cut its full-year profit forecast on slower demand from Chinese consumers, following the release of treated radioactive wastewater at Fukushima in August.
The stock fell as much as 14% by midday in Tokyo on Monday, to its daily limit, marking the largest intraday drop since October 2008. On Friday, Shiseido reduced its forecast for core operating profit by 42% to ¥35 billion ($231 million) for the year ending Dec. 31.
Japanese companies that are reliant on consumer demand in China have been struggling after online users in Asia’s biggest economy called for a boycott over the release of treated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. Shiseido shares are down by about a third, and the stocks of Pola Orbis Holdings Inc. and Kose Corp. are also lower.
Furhter out, Shiseido’s growth prospects remain strong, according to Oliver Matthew, an analyst at CLSA Securities Japan Co. “Shiseido is still very much a beneficiary of growing China beauty demands,” he said. “This drives up margins in the mid-term.”
Sales in China and the travel market both fell about 10% in the third quarter, with the company curtailing market activities and suspending promotions, it said. Shiseido also cut its revenue forecast by 2% to ¥980 billion.
Shiseido sees the impact from the waste-water release continuing into the first quarter of 2024, Kentaro Fujiwara, chief operating officer, said in a briefing Friday.
--With assistance from Winnie Hsu.
(Updates with the stock move and analyst comments.)
