All but two of the nation's 14 major banks fell into the red during the first six months of this business year, together setting aside a hefty 2.7 trillion yen in loan-loss reserves to cushion the potential impact from nonperforming loans.
Bad-loan writeoffs are expected to balloon to more than twice that amount and hit 6.3 trillion yen by the end of the business year as the economy continues to deteriorate.
Of the four major banking groups, Mizuho Financial Holdings, Inc., which comprises Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank, Industrial Bank of Japan and UFJ Holdings, Inc., both plan to set aside 2 trillion yen apiece for bad-loan writeoffs for the full year. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. says it will set aside 1 trillion yen.