< The 2014 All-Japan Research Team
Total Appearances: 3
Analyst Debut: 2012 In just his third appearance on this lineup, Mizuho Securities Group researcher Norimasa Shinya captures the crown, rising from second place. The 36-year-old is "well connected," one portfolio manager says, and "always [has] a big picture of the industry in his mind." Focusing on Japan's utilities names, Shinya advises that electric power companies are well positioned to post profits for the fiscal year ending in March 2015, "thanks to full-year contributions from rate hikes and reductions in fuel costs, after a number of nuclear power plants are restarted." He expects several thermal power stations to begin operations again as early as this summer but cautions that earthquake risks remain. "As a result," he adds, "we expect this sector to face the risk of significant income fluctuations depending on the timing of plant restarts." He suggests that clients buy Tokyo-based Electric Power Development Co., popularly known as J-Power. Shares of Japan's largest wholesale power company fell as much as 23.3 percent between their August high and February low points but had clawed back 6.8 percent by mid-March to settle at ¥3,050, well below his target price of ¥3,700. Among J-Power's attractions, Shinya notes, are its "renewed manifestation of valuation appeal and the prospect of short-term earnings growth, mainly from expanding its overseas independent-power-producer business." In addition, the analyst foresees "the possibility of broader earnings opportunities for J-Power's domestic wholesale electricity business," he says, "if initiatives to eliminate wholesale regulations presented in electric power system reforms proceed." Upon earning a bachelor's degree in political science from Tokyo's Keio University, Shinya joined the corporate banking business of Mizuho Bank. He jumped to the public sector, taking a post at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Civil Aviation Bureau, before moving to Mizuho Securities in 2007.
