Japanese banks to post loss in last quarter

05 January 2009

A plummeting stock market has led major Japanese banks, Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Financial to report a group net loss over the October-December period, reported a major daily.

This would be the first quarterly net loss for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group since its inception in 2005 through the merger of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings, the Mainichi Daily News reported.

Mizuho Financial Group is expected to post a net deficit for two consecutive quarters.

The executives of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are predicting losses in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

The group net losses of Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Financial in the October-December period is estimated at ''in the range of tens of billions of yen, (approximately $1,11 million ) which will likely force them to revise net profit estimates downward for the current business year ending in March.'' said the Mainichi Daily News

Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho are expected to declare their consolidated financial statements over the quarter period by end January.