3 Major Japan banks' net profit hits record high for 2nd year

The three groups--Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.--saw their earnings boosted by improved margins and gains on sales of equities and other assets, thanks to higher interest rates following policy rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.

Revenues linked to deposits and loans went up on the back of increased lending amid robust corporate activity.

The banking groups also sold off cross-held shares, with profits from such moves standing at 602.9 billion yen at Mitsubishi UFJ, 485 billion yen at Sumitomo Mitsui and over 200 billion yen at Mizuho.

As a result, they each logged their respective record net profits.

At a press conference on Thursday, Mitsubishi UFJ Group CEO Hironori Kamezawa said that the banking group continues to face "strong growth both in terms of quality and quantity."

For the year that ended this March, the combined net profit of the three megabanks plus two other banking groups--Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. and Resona Holdings Inc.--surged 30.5 % to 4,397.3 billion yen.

All five banking groups projected rises in their net profits for the current fiscal year, with the four excluding Resona predicting that their profits will hit new record highs.

In light of US President Donald Trump's high tariffs, the three megabanks said they expect their profits to decrease by 80-110 billion yen due to an economic slowdown and financial market turmoil.

Sumitomo Mitsui Group CEO Toru Nakashima said that the negative effects from the Trump tariffs have already started to weigh on his company's businesses.

 [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]