even donald trump may not be able to make <u+201c>golf<u+2019>s aristocracy<u+201d> great again. japanese prime minister shinzo abe, meeting with mr. trump last week , presented him with a special gift, according to nikkei asian review: a driver made by japan<u+2019>s honma golf , which specializes in gold-festooned clubs . a thoughtful choice given the president-elect<u+2019>s fondness for gold and golf, it is presumably the club that honma said it recently sold to the ministry of foreign affairs for almost $5,000. the presentation is a well-timed plug for honma, which is trying to shoot its way out of the rough. the japan-based company, rescued by a chinese businessman after filing for bankruptcy 11 years ago, in october had its initial public offering in hong kong. but hardly more than a month later, it issued a profit warning and then said its profit for the six months ended september was down by half. it was an inauspicious tee shot. the company, which dubbed itself <u+201c>golf<u+2019>s aristocracy<u+201d> in its september ipo prospectus, blamed larger-than-expected listing expenses and surprise costs in a stock-compensation plan. but even excluding those items, honma<u+2019>s adjusted profit was only flat, a big change from near 40% annual growth in the previous two years. investors have sliced a fifth off the stock since its debut. honma came to the market just as everyone else seemed to be leaving. tiger woods<u+2019>s sponsor nike said in august it is getting out of golf . adidas is selling part of its golf business , including the taylormade brand. honma is betting on china, which accounts for nearly a fifth of its revenue. yet that market also faces a major challenge: the sport has gone out of fashion, a victim of the country<u+2019>s antigraft campaign. honma shares surged 6% monday after news of the trump gift. to reach the green, though, the company will probably need more than just free publicity. write to jacky wong at jacky.wong@wsj.com
trump<u+2019>s new golf club doesn<u+2019>t fix honma<u+2019>s swing - wsj
jacky wong