GlobalData, a leading data analysis company, has revealed that the earnings call transcript sentiments of companies based in Asia-Pacific (APAC) have dropped by 20 percent in Q1 2022 over Q4 2021. With numerous Western peers terminating Russian operations, there is an increasing uncertainty around APAC companies’ stand on a Russian exit.
“Q1 2022 sentiments have not reached the COVID-19 driven lows of Q3 2020. The APAC companies seem sceptical of exiting Russian operations with their sentiments around Russia have been impacted by the Ukraine conflict and reached the medium range,” commented Rinaldo Pereira, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData.
According to GlobalData’s Filing Analytics database, the keyword ‘Sanctions’ has only appeared 14 times in APAC earnings call transcripts so far this year. In contrast, North American companies mentioned the word almost 190 times.
Japan Tobacco Inc, Food Empire Holdings Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, IRC Ltd were some of the APAC companies with the most mentions of Russia in all filings between 2016 and 2022.
“Most mentions do not necessarily mean the most exposure but indicate company discussions around the possibility of geopolitical risk on the production and sales- or an indirect impact on their business. APAC corporates do recognize the gravity of the crisis but are more cautious in their approach around discussions while several Western counterparts directly comment on suspending or halting operations.”
