Japanese bank UFJ Holdings made a net loss of 403 billion yen last year after taking massive loan-loss charges that underlined how it had lagged peers in facing up to problem debts.
UFJ, the smallest and weakest of Japan's big four banks, posted a net loss of 402.81 billion yen ($3.59 billion) for the year that ended in March, its third annual loss in a row, but it forecast a profit of 330 billion yen for the current business year.
Another bank, Resona Holdings, also reported annual losses today due to continuing bad loan problems but, like the other big banks, they expect to be in profit this year.
Resona, which last year was bailed out with nearly two trillion yen in taxpayers' money, posted a group net loss of 1.66 trillion yen for 2003/04 but also vowed to be back in the black this year with a projected group net profit of 170 billion yen.
The top three banks reporting later in the day - Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group - have forecast a combined 2003/04 net profit of about 1.015 trillion yen.
That projected profit will be due in large part to a 47 per cent rise in Japanese share prices, which boosts the value of their huge stockholdings, and a windfall tax refund from Tokyo city government.