Boost for Japanese firms

TOKYO: Some Japanese Internet companies are getting a boost from foreign investors as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushes for an elusive strength his country’s firms are not known for – high returns.

Overseas long-term investors were already hunting for stocks with growth potential, good governance and higher returns on equity before Abe took office in December 2012. But it’s been a hard slog for many as the world’s third-biggest economy stumbled through 15 years of deflation and sporadic growth.