Revenue Freeze: MOH Nippon Slammed by Project Delays, Swings to Annual Loss
Once riding high on the boom of Japan’s real estate crowdfunding wave, MOH Nippon PLC has hit a wall and hard.
The London-listed company now expects to post a staggering net loss of JPY1.15 billion (USD7.77 million) for the 11 months ended March 31, a complete turnaround from its JPY2.08 billion profit just a year ago. The culprit? A screeching halt in revenue during the second half of the year as key projects were delayed and crowdfunding engines ground to a halt.
From Boom to Bust Fast
All of MOH’s revenue, JPY4.01 billion, down from JPY11.11 billion, was earned in the first half of the year, primarily from the Osaka-based Soemon-cho development. After that? Silence. Since September, not a single yen has flowed in from new projects.
This dramatic collapse left investors reeling and raised fresh questions about the company’s ability to maintain momentum in a hypercompetitive, fast-evolving market.
Big Bets, Bigger Headwinds
Despite the revenue freeze, MOH wasn’t sitting idle. It pumped:
- JPY1.5 billion into a hospitality venture in Saipan,
- JPY9 million into a cold-chain seafood play in Shirahama,
- And JPY3.2 billion into expanding the very project that carried it through the first half Soemon-cho.
An additional JPY2.59 billion was funneled into construction at Narita via related-party TSIB. But those investments haven’t yet paid off and may not for some time.
Complicating matters further are several stumbles:
- A tuna mariculture project delayed,
- Canadian negotiations abandoned,
- And the ongoing sting from a July 2024 business suspension that tarnished MOH’s reputation.
As if that weren’t enough, rising land prices and a flood of foreign investors have made new opportunities even harder to lock down.
Heavy Spending, Light Results
Operating costs ballooned to JPY2.1 billion, with an eye-watering 77% blown on advertising and promotion a clear sign MOH is battling to stay top-of-mind as deal flow slows to a trickle.
Yet the company remains upbeat, banking on fresh capital from a second round of asset sales tied to Soemon-cho and touting progress in developing logistics sites using its futuristic FrostiX cold-chain tech.
What’s Next?
With shares plunging 27% to 20.00p in London on Tuesday, investor patience is wearing thin. All eyes are now on the company’s upcoming audited results, due by July 31, and whether MOH can turn the tide before 2025 becomes another year of missed milestones.
Will MOH Nippon bounce back with a new round of deal-making magic or is this the beginning of a deeper chill in Japan’s real estate crowdfunding scene?
Stay tuned. This story’s just heating up.
