Business Description
Kao makes the everyday goods found in most Japanese homes: Attack laundry detergent and other fabric and home-care products, Merries nappies and Laurier sanitary products, Bioré and Merit toiletries, and a cosmetics portfolio that includes Kanebo, KATE, Curél and Sensai. These consumer businesses are reported as Hygiene & Living Care, Health & Beauty Care, Cosmetics and Business Connected. Alongside them sits a business-to-business Chemical segment producing oleochemicals such as fatty alcohols, derived largely from palm oil, and specialty materials including toner and binder resins.
Earnings turn on the gap between raw-material costs — petrochemicals and palm oil — and how far Kao can lift prices at home, together with the health of the Japanese consumer and a smaller but important business elsewhere in Asia. The Chemical segment is more cyclical and tends to track raw-material prices. After years of weak profitability, particularly in cosmetics and in China, the company launched its K27 plan to restore margins and prune underperforming brands, and its recent results have shown cosmetics returning to profit. The business traces back to 1887, when Tomiro Nagase opened a Western-goods store in Tokyo; the quality facial soap Kao Sekken, launched in 1890, gave the company its name. The present legal entity dates from 1940, and the fiscal year ends in December.
Corporate Data
| Ticker | 4452 |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Tokyo Stock Exchange |
| Size Category | TOPIX Large70 |
| Market Segment | Prime Market |
| Sector | Chemicals |
| Head Office | 1-14-10 Nihonbashi-Kayabacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8210, Japan |
| Founded | May 21, 1940 |
| Fiscal Year End | December 31 |
| Website | Official website |