Fidelity's Price: The 'improving picture' for Japanese corporates

Increased share buybacks

Japan's economy has continued to grow at a rate well above its long-term average.

Indicators of manufacturing activity have remained at an elevated level and earnings momentum has been exceptionally strong.  It is encouraging we continue to see signs of a change in corporate mindsets, with Japanese companies increasingly focusing on greater capital efficiency. Japanese valuations remain attractive despite strong performance Historically, Japanese companies have been good at managing their businesses and profit/loss accounts, but less effective at managing balance sheets. However, improvements are slowly drifting through and share buybacks, for example, are up...