Fourth largest bank in Japan by assets andlargest by amount of customers

Japan Post Bank shares slump after sources say parent looking to slash stake

Shares in Japan Post Bank slid more than 6% on Wednesday, a day after Reuters reported that parent Japan Post Holdings was considering selling around a third of its stake in the bank, which could be worth nearly $9 billion. A move to sell the stake would mark the first such sale since Japan Post and its two financial businesses – Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance – were listed in 2015 in the country’s biggest privatization in about three decades. Japan’s national postal service currently owns around 89% of the bank and is aiming to reduce the stake to around 60% by the end of March, while the bank is considering buying back some of the shares, sources told Reuters. The deal would be worth around 1.2 trillion yen ($8.9 billion) at current market prices. Responding to the report, the two companies said on Wednesday they were considering various options but that the reported decision had not been made. “We will make a formal announcement as soon as any decision is made,” they said in similarly worded statements.

Shares in Japan Post Holdings were down 2.0% in mid-morning Tokyo trade while the benchmark Nikkei index was down 1.5%. As part of its privatization, Japan Post Holdings was set to reduce its stake in both the bank and insurance divisions to 50% or less by the end of March 2026. It reached that target for the insurance unit in 2021. A reduction in Japan Post Holdings’ stake in the banking unit to around 60% would help Japan Post Bank to meet Tokyo Stock Exchange requirements to be listed in the top section of the bourse. ($1 = 134.7000 yen) https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/japan-post-bank-shares-slump-after-sources-say-parent-looking-to-slash-stake

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