OK, I looked really fast at Itochu:
Positives: You are right, the debt is decreasing for last 9 years, equity is growing, earnings are growing too (for last 5 years), ROE is 20%
Negatives: D/E is still high at 1.8. Net margin is very low at 1.5%.
Now, to the story. Hmm, actually according to their geographical segment information, there is no real story. They have growth in Japan (not sure if this is connected to China or not and no way of checking really), they have some growth in Asia, some in NA and Europe... Asia is still <20% of revenues and not growing very fast, in fact it went down in 2007 (which ended in March 2007).
Looking at industrial segments, it is a true conglomerate with no dominant segment. I don't really like that, since it means that I have no clue where this company will go in the future. Actually the largest segment seems to be Food. I wonder how does that gel with your story about Itochu supporting Asia growth...
In short, I would not buy it. But thanks, bring more. :) |
