Major Japanese banks see 990 bil. yen loss in stock investments

TOKYO, Feb. 6 Kyodo - Japan's six major banking groups saw a combined loss of some 990 billion yen
(about $10.8 billion) in their stock investments in the nine months through
December amid the global financial turmoil, their earnings reports released by
Friday showed.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the largest among the six, said it fell
into the red with a group net loss of 42.07 billion yen compared with 314.66
billion yen in net profit marked in the same period a year before. It sharply
cut its earnings estimate for all of fiscal 2008 ending March 31.
Affected by losses on securities investments as well as the growing cost of
bad-loan disposal, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. also fell into the red in the
nine months, recording a group net loss of 50.55 billion yen.
Only Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. saw a net profit among the country's
three mega-banking groups but said the profit plunged 73.9 percent to 83.44
billion yen on loan-loss provisions and other credit costs due to the financial
crisis.
The six groups also include Resona Holdings Inc., Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings
Inc. and Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co.
On Friday, MUFG said its consolidated pretax profit fell 82.9 percent to 113.92
billion yen on operating revenues of 4.35 trillion yen, down 8.6 percent.
The financial group downgraded its earnings estimate for fiscal 2008, expecting
a net profit of 50 billion yen, down 92.1 percent and compared with an earlier
projected 220 billion yen.
==Kyodo