Livedoor Co. will still provide financial services after it sells off its financial-business arms, Livedoor President Kozo Hiramatsu said Monday.
"Financial service remains one of the group's core businesses, and the service will be continued," Hiramatsu said, alluding to the firm's desire to cooperate with the entities that buy the financial businesses. The company currently is looking for buyers.
Hiramatsu was cautious on whether Livedoor will go public again, after having been delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in April.
"I can't be optimistic, as there are many factors, including the results of the criminal trials and so forth," he said.
Livedoor, along with ex-President Takafumi Horie and four other former executives, were charged earlier this year with falsifying financial reports in the business year to September 2004.
The firm has been charged with reporting a consolidated pretax profit of about 5 billion yen for the year, when it actually incurred a pretax loss of some 300 million yen.
Under the Securities Exchange Law, Livedoor would be required to reduce the stockholding ratio of its affiliate Livedoor Securities Co. to less than 20 percent if the court finds the corporate body guilty of the charges. Hiramatsu said the company hopes to hold on to some of the stock.
He said Livedoor first will put priority on building up a cooperative relationship with Usen Corp., the country's biggest cable broadcaster, which has tieups with the firm.
"I hope we will come to have a stronger relationship with each other," Hiramatsu said, and indicated he hoped for a capital tieup with Usen.
Hiramatsu also said that by next month, mail-order firm Cecile Co., in which Livedoor holds the majority stake, will be on Livedoor's Internet mall.
