Eight of the nation's city banks remained in the red at the end of fiscal 1998, a year they spent boosting loan-loss reserves and writing off nonperforming loans, according to earnings reports released by Friday.
Despite their efforts, however, the banks are still saddled with a massive amount of bad loans, and it may take time before they are given a clean bill of health.
All of Japan's nine city banks except Daiwa had released their fiscal 1998 results by Friday; Daiwa will release its report Tuesday.