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(Bloomberg) -- Fuji Media Holdings Inc. shares slipped and the spread on its bonds has widened as the impact of a sexual harassment scandal continues to hurt the Japanese television broadcaster.
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The stock dropped as much as 5.3% Friday after the company cuts its sales and profit forecasts on Thursday due to canceled ads. The decline followed an advance of about 25% in the five previous trading days as some investors bet on corporate governance improvements.
Meanwhile, the additional premium investors demand to hold Fuji Media’s debt versus government bonds has extended the widening trend of recent weeks.
Japan Govt. Halts Advertisements With Fuji TV As Scandal Grows
The spread on Fuji Media bonds due in December 2028 has more than tripled this year to a record of about 124 basis points as of Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
After the bond’s issuance in December 2023, spreads had broadly hovered around 35 basis points until the end of last year.
The company on Thursday cut its full-year operating income forecast to ¥18 billion ($117 million) from ¥35.30 billion and said it will not seek compensation for canceled ads.
That came after a number of companies withdrew their advertisements following allegations that former J-pop star Masahiro Nakai sexually harassed a woman while he was working for the broadcaster as a TV host.
The president of Fuji Television Network Inc. and the chairman of its parent company both stepped down over the handling of the scandal.
Activist investors such as Dalton Investments Inc. have been expressing dissatisfaction over the company’s handling of the scandal.
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