Latest news with #Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
Bloomberg
41 minutes ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
MUFG in Talks to Arrange New Debt Swaps After $465 Million Deal
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is in talks with a number of governments as it seeks to build a pipeline of swaps to help developing nations refinance debt and free up funds for social and infrastructure projects. Japan's biggest bank is looking to expand its presence in the market for debt swaps after helping to wrap up a €400 million ($465 million) deal for Ivory Coast in December. Following that transaction, MUFG is now 'engaging with a number of borrowers on similar structures,' Ankit Khandelwal, the bank's head of Africa sovereigns, development finance institutions and blended finance, said in an interview.
Japan Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
LDP's Kono adds to chorus urging BOJ to tighten policy
A member of parliament in the Liberal Democratic Party added his voice to those calling for the Bank of Japan to tighten monetary policy to bolster the yen. "Now the economy is with inflation and interest rates, so we should have new economic policies,' Taro Kono said in a news conference Wednesday. "Now what we need is tight monetary policy to bring the yen stronger.' Kono's remarks come after several prominent executives made similar pleas. Takeshi Niinami, speaking as chair of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, said last week that the weak yen is hurting households by driving up costs. "Every tariff issue will be settled and then I believe the BOJ must increase interest rates,' said Niinami, who is also chief executive officer of Suntory Holdings. The head of Japan's largest bank called for the BOJ to raise its policy rate as early as the next meeting, given the outlook for higher inflation in the country. "Our official company view sees March next year as a possible timing of the rate hike. But personally, I think September or October is quite possible,' Hironori Kamezawa, CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, said in an interview published Tuesday. After touching a high for the year around ¥140 to the dollar in April, Japan's currency weakened back toward ¥150 per dollar after BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda made dovish comments following last week's board decision to hold the benchmark rate steady. The yen was trading around ¥147.55 per dollar at midday in Tokyo Wednesday. After the U.S.-Japan trade deal was announced in late July, economists brought forward their predictions on when the BOJ might next hike, with more than 40% forecasting a move at its October policy meeting. No economists expect a move when authorities next set policy on Sept. 19, but over half of respondents expect another increase before the end of the year. Kono is a prominent politician who has served in Cabinet positions including head of foreign affairs, defense and most recently digital transformation. Kono spoke at a time when Japan's political leadership is under pressure after the ruling coalition lost its majority in the Upper House in an election last month. Kono argued that leading up to that election, the government should have asked the BOJ to raise rates in return for a pledge to cut back on spending and to balance the nation's budget as soon as possible. "We should have done that, but we didn't,' he said.
Japan Times
05-08-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan's 5 largest banking groups post 2.7% profit gains for April-June
The combined group net profits of Japan's five major banking groups in April-June increased 2.7% from a year earlier to ¥1.375 trillion ($9.34 billion), due partly to growth in income from their lending operations reflecting interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan, according to their earnings reports released by Monday. Net profit grew 1.5% to ¥376.8 billion at Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, 0.4% to ¥290.5 billion at Mizuho Financial Group and 36.2% to ¥90.8 billion at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group. The three groups' April-June profits are the highest since they were established. Resona Holdings' net profit grew 27.3% to ¥70.5 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group saw its net profit decline 1.8% to ¥546 billion, due to a change in the accounting period at Bank of Ayudhya, a Thai subsidiary. For the full year to March 2026, Mizuho expects its group net profit will total ¥1.02 trillion, up from a previously forecast ¥940 billion and topping the ¥1 trillion threshold for the first time. Concerns about the impact of the high tariff measures of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, such as fundraising issues and the postponements of investment, have been limited at client companies, a Mitsubishi UFJ official indicated. The three megabank groups — Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho — have estimated that the Trump tariffs could help reduce their fiscal 2025 profits by around ¥80 billion to ¥110 billion. But a Sumitomo Mitsui Financial official said, "The impact could possibly be smaller than forecast."
CNA
04-08-2025
- Business
- CNA
Japan's MUFG maintains record full-year profit forecast after steady Q1 results
TOKYO :Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) posted a 2.2 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit on Monday as loan demand in Japan and abroad rode out market volatility over the quarter, after stripping out a one-time item. The results from Japan's largest banking group round off a robust showing for the country's three "megabanks", each of which grew profits in the first quarter despite market swings and fears of a global economic slowdown. MUFG remains on track to hit its record 2 trillion yen profit forecast for this financial year - a target set in May and that accounted for the wave of uncertainty triggered by the announcement of tariffs by U.S. president Donald Trump in April. Including the one-time item - due to a change in the accounting period of a subsidiary - MUFG's net profit was down 1.8 per cent. Net profit reached 546 billion yen ($3.7 billion) in the April-June quarter, compared with 555.9 billion over the same period a year earlier. Persistent inflation in Japan after decades of deflation has triggered a wave of borrowing among Japanese firms looking to invest for growth, demand for which held up despite the uncertainty. MUFG's domestic loan balance rose to 75.8 trillion yen at the end of June from 72.7 trillion at the end of June last year. The prospect of tariffs has had limited effect on customer behavior so far, MUFG said. "The customers expressing concerns about financing or delaying investment are limited," Takayuki Hara, head of MUFG's corporate planning division, told a press briefing. "The effect on companies' earnings will become apparent little by little in the second half of the year," Hara said. Meanwhile the end of negative interest rates in March last year, followed by two hikes since, has finally pushed up lending margins in Japan's long-suffering banking sector. MUFG's domestic deposit and lending yield differential rose to 0.95 per cent in the April-June quarter from 0.86 per cent in the same period last year. Last Thursday smaller rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group also maintained its record earnings forecast of 1.3 trillion yen, while number three player Mizuho Financial Group hiked its forecast by 15 per cent to 1.02 trillion yen. ($1 = 147.6200 yen)
CNA
04-08-2025
- Business
- CNA
Japan's MUFG books 1.8% fall in Q1 profit, maintains record full-year forecast
TOKYO :Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) posted a 1.8 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit due to a change in the accounting period of a subsidiary in the same period a year prior, it said on Monday. Without the accounting change, net profit rose 2.2 per cent, as loan demand in Japan and abroad rode out market volatility over the quarter. The results round off a robust showing for Japan's three "megabanks", each of which grew profits in the first quarter despite market swings and fears of a global economic slowdown. MUFG remains on track to hit its record 2 trillion yen profit forecast for this financial year - a target set in May and that accounted for the wave of uncertainty triggered by the announcement of tariffs by U.S. president Donald Trump in April. Japan's largest banking group recorded a profit of 546 billion yen ($3.70 billion) in the April-June quarter, compared with 555.9 billion yen over the same period a year earlier. Persistent inflation in Japan after decades of deflation has triggered a wave of borrowing among Japanese firms looking to invest for growth, demand for which held up despite the uncertainty. Meanwhile the end of negative interest rates in March last year, followed by two hikes since, has finally pushed up lending margins in Japan's long-suffering banking sector. Last Thursday smaller rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group also maintained its record earnings forecast of 1.3 trillion yen, while number three player Mizuho Financial Group hiked its forecast by 15 per cent to 1.02 trillion yen. ($1 = 147.6200 yen)
