日经亚洲特稿复盘丸红（8002.T）8月3日已披露的资本配置上调与2028财年15% ROE目标，无新增披露

TOKYO -- Marubeni has responded to feedback from overseas investors by raising targets for new investments and shareholder returns as it pursues a 15% return on equity (ROE) that would be highest among Japan's trading houses by mobilizing cash across the group.
Marubeni executives met with about 50 institutional investors in New York, London and elsewhere during early June. The company, under its medium-term management plan, looks to raise ROE to 15% in the year ending March 2028.
The investors, noting the company's declining ROE in recent years, urged management to improve performance through additional investments and greater shareholder returns.
President Masayuki Omoto and Chief Financial Officer Chijo Tajima agreed to embark on those efforts immediately. When Marubeni reported results for the April-June quarter on Aug. 3, it revised the capital allocation plan outlined in the company's three-year strategy.
Overseas investors have become more optimistic about engagement with Marubeni partly due to Keiji Kojima, the former Hitachi president who joined Marubeni's board as an outside director in June 2025.
Investors familiar with Kojima's tenure at Hitachi say that when he is convinced by investor arguments, he acts quickly, unlike executives who profess they have heard investor views but take little action. Kojima's presence on the board has raised hopes that the company will follow through on commitments.
As part of its capital allocation revision, Marubeni raised planned new investments to 1.95 trillion yen ($12.7 billion), an increase of 250 billion yen, and boosted shareholder returns by 200 billion yen, to 900 billion yen. The additional money will come from 250 billion yen in debt and 200 billion yen initially earmarked to remain as cash reserves.
The Japanese trader has shifted away from a policy of maintaining positive free cash flow after shareholder distributions and plans to make greater use of debt financing.
Marubeni has started efforts to improve cash-generation capabilities and use cash more effectively. Core operating cash flow for the April-June quarter, which excludes working-capital fluctuations and other temporary factors, rose by 96 billion yen year-on-year to a record 249.9 billion yen. Roughly half of the increase came via dividends received from affiliated companies.
Cash distribution within the group had become increasingly uneven. At the end of fiscal 2025, the parent company held 99.9 billion yen in cash and deposits, far less than the 551.2 billion yen total on a consolidated basis.
Because the parent company had been responsible for funding investments and dividends, its share of group cash fell from 55% at the end of fiscal 2016 to 18% nine years later. Marubeni looks to strengthen the parent's financial capacity.
To improve cash creation, the trading house introduced an evaluation system this fiscal year in which business divisions are assessed not only on profit-and-loss performance, but also on metrics linked to cash flow.
Marubeni measures capital efficiency using its cash conversion rate (CCR), calculated by dividing core operating cash flow by adjusted net profit that excludes one-off factors. A higher figure indicates that earnings are being converted into cash more effectively.
The general trader's CCR stood at 138% in April-June 2024, fell to 120% a year later and then improved to 141% in the latest quarter.
"We're asking each division to improve even by just 1% or 2%," Tajima said. Management has urged measures such as cost reductions and cuts in excess inventory. "The board has strongly called for improvements in the precision of management."
Marubeni posted an ROE of 13.6% in the year ended March, second to Itochu's 14.6% among Japan's trading houses. Across the sector, the weaker yen has inflated the yen value of overseas investments and subsidiaries, making it harder to improve ROE.
Marubeni's ROE has declined for two consecutive years from 14.9% in the year ended March 2024, and the company expects the figure to remain in the 13%-14% range in the year ending March 2027. Overseas investors often use an ROE of 15% or higher as a benchmark when selecting stocks.
"There is an expectation among investors that we will achieve that," Tajima said.
With Marubeni's price-to-book ratio now in the 1.8 range, the perception that its shares are undervalued has diminished.
"As share buybacks become less efficient, raising ROE will not be easy," said Yasuhiro Narita, a research analyst at Nomura Securities.