2017.04.2804:04:00UTC+00Yahoo Japan Shares Slump, Weighed Down by Amazon

Yahoo Japan shares plunged after it warned of a large increase in marketing costs as it attempts to keep up with its rival Amazon.com.

Amazon's net sales in Japan, its largest foreign market after Germany, jumped over 30 percent to almost $11 billion the previous year. Japan accounts for around eight percent of its overall sales and nearly a quarter of its international sales.

Yahoo Japan, a joint venture between SoftBank Corp. and Yahoo Inc., has faced stiff competition in its home country as Amazon gains advantage from years of growing investment in Japan, which includes spending on warehouses and robots to launch its Amazon Prime same-day delivery services.

Revenue from ads on its shopping site for the business year ended in March was $155 million.

The company announced that it would increase its marketing budget for this business year by 44 percent to $458 million, which will tighten profit by nearly $270 million compared with the year that just finished. After the announcement, Yahoo Japan's share price fell ten percent.

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