SHINSEI BANK: SHARE PRICE HISTORY

Shinsei Bank Ltd. ("Shinsei") (Stock Code: 8303), formerly known as the Long Term Credit Bank, listed its common shares on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on 19 February 2004. Two shareholders, specifically New LTCB Partners C.V. and GGR Cayman L.P., sold 471,299 thousand shares and 5,001 thousand shares, respectively. In total, 476,300 thousand shares were sold.  Current shares outstanding: 1.4 billion.

The first day's closing price was 827 yen per share. The stock fell 9.5 percent to 748 yen per share the following day and proceeded to rise thereafter. On 17 March, 2004, Shinsei's share price peaked at 885 yen per share. On 2 August 2004, Shinsei's share price trades in the 600-620 yen range.

Another way to assess share price movements is via the relative strength index. In a way, a share price's relative strength is more useful as it is often difficult to tell if the change is share specific or caused by sector or market movements. Mathematically, if two variables are changing at the same time, the ratio created by dividing one by another should remain constant. Therefore, if  the ratio increases over time the stock is said to be "out-performing" the sector or total market. If the ratio declines over time the stock is said to be "under-performing" the sector or total market.

The chart below plots the relative strength of Shinsei versus the Japanese banking sector and total market, respectively. As both indexes reveal, Shinsei has been consistently under-performing both the banking sector and the total market since late-March 2004.  The steep decline in the banking sector relative (rhs) since mid- May 2004, however, in contrast to the mild relative underperformance to the total market, suggests that the stock market favors other banks much more than Shinsei.  

Back to Saving the Sun (Review)                            Back to Japan Review Net