Metaplanet (3350), Japan’s largest corporate bitcoin holder and the world’s third largest bitcoin treasury company with 40,177 BTC on its balance sheet, has confirmed a delay in its planned preferred stock listing.
CEO Simon Gerovich discussed the complexity of navigating Japan’s underdeveloped preferred stock market as the primary reason for the exit.
The company’s planned instrument would be only the seventh listed preferred in Japan, Gerovich said, and notably the first perpetual preferred stock ever to hit the market.
Metaplanet announced back in November a two-tier listed preferred share class, Mars and Mercury. The move came after Strategy launched its own preferred stocks, with Stretch ( STRC ) among the most popular.
Two key obstacles have stood in the way of Metaplanet’s IPO of preferred shares.
First, Japanese stock exchange rules require that preferred dividends be supported by sustainable, recurring cash flows assessed across multiple market conditions. Metaplanet needs to demonstrate that its Bitcoin Income Generation Business can produce stable returns even in adverse bitcoin environments, and only has six-quarters operating profit.
Second, the company’s ambition to pay monthly dividends is far more frequent than Japan’s typical once- or twice-yearly cadence, which requires building entirely new dividend infrastructure around record dates.
Gerovich concluded that the company is committed to delivering preferred stock to the market, highlighting Japan’s status as one of the world’s most yield-starved major capital markets.
On earnings, the company delivered net revenue of $19.5 million (¥3.08 billion, up 251% year-over-year) and operating income of $14.4 million (¥2.27 billion, up 283%). Meanwhile, bitcoin yields fell 2.8% in the quarter to date.
Metaplanet’s shares are down 25% year to date.
