Calls for cash-rich firms to open war chests

TOKYO.  – Impatient shareholders are calling on the world’s top firms to start spending some of the eye-popping $2,8 trillion in cash built up since the financial crisis, as analysts warn that their thriftiness could be holding back global growth.The combined war chests held by companies including Apple, Google and Samsung – roughly equivalent to the size of France’s economy – has swelled since the 2008 global downturn hammered stock markets and saw nervous firms pinching their pennies as they waited out the storm.

But even as markets bounced back and business confidence recovered, the cash piles kept growing.

That has prompted a drumbeat of calls for firms to start spending more on share buybacks or boosting dividends, building new factories, or acquiring rival firms.
Among those targeted was Toyota, which last month announced a plan to start buying back $3,5 billion worth of its shares after its annual investor meeting in June.

The move by the world’s largest auto-maker would be the first time in five years it has embarked on a buyback, which tends to boost a company’s stock and signals growing confidence among management.

“Since Toyota has said it would scale down its investment over the next three years, share buybacks are one of the practical options that a cash-rich company can take,” said Yusuke Miura, analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center in Japan.

Together, Apple, Microsoft and Google have over $300 billion in cash, while US non-financial firms held a record $1,64 trillion in all – double the amount back in 2007, according to a report last month by ratings agency Moody’s.

While major US firms have also increased their debt in recent years, the cash build-up has generated criticism from investors and critics who say some of America’s best-known firms are hoarding money overseas – and out of the hands of the taxman.

But “Moody’s expects businesses to remain cautious over the next year, with spending on capital investments, dividends, acquisitions and share buybacks going up only slightly,” it said. – AFP.