Despite coughing up a record 7.57 trillion yen to cover credit costs, Japan's major banks were unable to make a dent in the size of their bad loans, which shot up 47.4 percent from a year earlier to a record 27 trillion yen, according to fiscal 2001 earnings results released Friday.
The volume of loans to shaky or failed borrowers stands at 6.48 times the banks' combined profits from core business operations.
In fiscal 2001, banks' consolidated net profits slid deeper into the red by a combined 4.07 trillion yen, giving an indication of the long road ahead before Japan's banks gain profitability.