Key View

• Daiichi Sankyo’s mainstay products face an increasingly challenging environment from generic competition and loss of exclusivity.
• As such, the company’s commercial performance will continue to face significant challenges.
• An expansion into oncology medicines will bolster the company’s growth prospects over the long-term.

Daiichi

Key View

• Canon’s moderate growth resulted from revenue decreases in Japan that were offset by good performance in the overseas markets.
•  Overseas markets will be increasingly important for the Medical Systems segment.
• The company is aiming at increasing its international presence along with its efforts to expand capabilities and product

Key View

• Q418 real GDP grew by 1.4% q-o-q on an annualised basis, bringing Japan’s full-year growth rate to 0.7%.
• At Fitch Solutions, we maintain our below-consensus real GDP growth forecast for Japan at 0.5% in 2019 as the country will continue to face both external and domestic challenges.
• The impending sales tax hike in October will likely

Key View: 

• Lotte's JPY130bn investment looks to boost confectionery production by 2023 as spending on sugar and sugar products picks up over the medium-term forecast period (2019-2023).
• Growth in spending on confectionery is being driven by increasing demand for Japanese confectionery from tourists as well as demand for higher quality

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will prioritise constitutional reform over economic issues in 2019, with a view to holding a national referendum by 2020.
• However, widespread opposition to constitutional amendments means that any referendum would be a major gamble for Abe.
• Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also faces political tests in

Key View

• Increasing the consumption tax in October 2019 to finance social security needs and public works spending amid a challenging economic context will likely create economic distortions for Japan in 2019.
• The economic cycle could also be sensitive to the political cycle as upper House and gubernatorial elections are set to be held in 2019

Key View

• Japan will remain an important market for innovative drugmakers due to its size.
• Medicine pricing reforms put forward by the government will significantly affect the country's attractiveness to drugmakers.
• Increased generic substitution will also challenge innovative pharmaceutical market growth.

Tough pricing environment will

Key View

• Canon’s top line growth could be negatively impacted by restrained buying in its domestic market.
• The company will benefit from demand recovering in the US and European and increasing in emerging market countries in the coming quarters.
• Canon will aim to improve earnings with the continued roll-out of key products including the MRI