PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCK NEWS: SoftBank reported record-high FY net income and revenue

AUSTRALIA

AUB Group (AUB AT) - Co. named Gary Lennon as nonexecutive director, effective May 12. (Dow Jones Newswires)

GQG Partners (GQG AT) - Co. said funds under management stood at USD 166.9bln at end-April, with net outflows of USD 1.4bln and positive investment performance of USD 5.7bln in April. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Insurance Australia Group (IAG AT) - Co. expects more than 11mln customers and more than AUD 25bln in gross written premium by 2030, and is aiming for return on equity above 15% and high single-digit EPS growth by 2030. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Broker Ratings/Price Target - Metcash (MTS AT) Upgraded to Buy from Hold, price target raised 1.4% to AUD 3.50/shr by Jefferies.

JAPAN

Canon (7751 JT) - Co. will shut down its Philippine laser printer plant as demand falls. (Nikkei)

Mitsubishi Electric (6503 JT) - Co. does not plan to sell its consumer appliance business, seeing the sector as a key point of contact with consumers. (Nikkei)

NEC (6701 JT) - Co. plans to invest more than JPY 100bln over five years in its submarine cable business to strengthen its undersea cable technology and cable-laying capacity. (Nikkei)

Panasonic Holdings (6752 JT) - Co.’s EV battery production has been delayed again as customer orders stall. (Nikkei)

SoftBank Group (9984 JT) - Co. FY (JPY) net income rose 5% Y/Y to 550.8bln, oper. income rose 5% Y/Y to 1.04tln and revenue rose 8% Y/Y to 7.04tln, with revenue and net income reaching record highs. Co.’s Masayoshi Son is reportedly considering an investment of up to USD 100bln in France. (Newswires)

Sony Group (6758 JT) – Sony Music will buy a music catalogue from Blackstone for about USD 4bln, acquiring rights to 45k songs including Lady Gaga hits. (Nikkei/Newswires)

Automakers - Honda Motor (7267 JT) and Toyota Motor (7203 JT) saw sharp Chinese sales declines as competition intensified. (Nikkei)

Developers - Japanese developers warned of the risk of new condo delays due to the Iran war. (Nikkei)

SOUTH KOREA

Hanssem Co. (009240 KS) - Co. Q1 (KRW) net fell 72.6% Y/Y to 2.6bln, oper. profit 10.1bln (prev. 6.4bln Y/Y), rev. fell 9.9% Y/Y to 399.4bln. (Yonhap)

Lotte Chemical (011170 KS) - Co. Q1 (KRW) net 33.5bln (prev. loss 246.3bln Y/Y), oper. income 73.5bln (prev. loss 126.6bln Y/Y), rev. rose 1.8% Y/Y to 4.99tln. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co.’s labour union is open to averting a strike and wants pay transparency, while labour and management held their first mediation talks over a strike. (Nikkei/Yonhap)