Even with Aozora Bank Ltd. witnessing a sharp decline in its shares recently, there has been a notable surge in demand from a specific group of small retail investors. Utilizing Japan’s tax-free NISA accounts, these buyers might not have been fully aware of the bank’s predicted loss and dividend cancellation, leading to inadvertent transactions, suggests Hideyuki Suzuki, a general manager at SBI Securities Co.
Suzuki highlights the presence of many novice investors in NISA, suggesting that unintentional buying may have occurred. Orders for stocks with high dividend yields, placed in advance, could have been automatically executed while investors remained unaware of the bank’s financial developments.
Data from SBI’s weekly NISA purchase amounts reveal a significant spike in demand for Aozora shares, propelling the bank to the second position from being absent in the top 10 the previous week. Suzuki notes that these orders could have been placed before the release of the earnings report, contributing to the unexpected surge.
Aozora Bank, headquartered in Tokyo, suffered a 33% value loss over a two-day span after predicting a yearly loss and increasing provisions for US commercial property-related loans. A press conference held on February 1 saw Kei Tanigawa, Aozora Bank’s president, expressing regret for the inability to pay the expected dividend and acknowledging responsibility for the situation.
