OREANDA-NEWS. June 16, 2015. More CFOs will look to expand into the Japanese market via mergers and acquisitions (M&A), according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2015 CFO Outlook Asia report. The strength of the Japanese corporate sector, the ongoing economic reform agenda (“Abenomics”) and a drop in asset prices due to a weaker yen are driving this sentiment.

In a survey of CFOs in the Asia Pacific region commissioned by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 35 percent of respondents named Japan as a market on which they are focusing for M&A opportunities. Japan ranked second only to China (36 percent), leaping from eighth place (8 percent) in 2014.

“In our interactions, many Japanese corporates are regaining their profitability due to the impact of Abenomics,” said Jun Kigoshi, head of Japan Corporate Banking, Bank of America Merrill lynch and vice chairman of Bank of America, N.A. Tokyo branch. “Coupled with a weaker yen, the technological prowess of its companies and the size of its market in absolute terms, Japan is an attractive proposition, with both international and domestic firms increasing M&A dialogue. 

Other key regional findings include:

  • Record optimism: Eighty-four percent of respondents said they expect revenues to rise in 2015, up from 76 percent in the survey last year. CFOs are also more bullish on profits in 2015, with 73 percent of those surveyed forecasting growth this year, compared with 60 percent in 2014 – the highest level of level of confidence since 2012.
  • Enhancing working capital and operations efficiencies: More CFOs are focusing on efficiencies to further wnhance profits. A strong majority (70 percent versus 41 percent in 2014) of CFOs are looking to improve profitability through better management of working capital. More than half (56 percent) will be looking to operational efficiencies to improve profitability, up from 45 percent in 2014 edition.     
  • Increasing investments: A majority of CFOs (58 percent) say they expect their company’s capital expenditure to be higher this year than in 2014, reflecting the current opportunity in the market to obtain funding at lower rates ahead of any moves by the U.S. Fed.
  • Financing to expand: More CFOs are taking on financing in 2015 to expand businesses compared to last year’s survey. Both debt and equity financing will increase in 2015, according to CFOs. Sixty-two percent of CFOs expect their borrowing needs to expand in 2015, double the number of respondents in 2014. CFOs are also actively exploring weighting the balance sheet with additional equity in 2015 (53 percent versus 27 percent in 2014).
  • CFOs wary of market risk, but confident in controls: Fifty-four percent of CFOs identify financial risk (versus 36 percent in 2014) as the biggest challenge faced in 2015, but due to strong cash positions and a broader awareness of risk management, are confident in their ability to better hedge against currency and FX volatility.

Japanese CFOs remain optimistic on earnings. Eighty-nine percent of those surveyed said they expect revenues to rise year-on-year in 2015, an increase from 84 percent in 2014, when Japanese CFOs were the most positive in the region. While the proportion of CFOs expecting profits to rise – 69 percent – is lower than the Asia Pacific average (73 percent), it is up on year-on-year from 57 percent in 2014.

The Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2015 CFO Outlook Asia report includes the views of 630 respondents at the CFO or CFO-equivalent level within finance departments. Now in its fourth edition, the report offers insights into the strategies deployed by key financial decision-makers across multiple industries and 12 economies in the region. Approximately 97 percent of respondents come from corporations with at least US\\$500 million annual turnover and represent a balanced mix of multinational corporations and large local companies.