LONDON (Kyodo) Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. climbed seven places in terms of capital in the global bank listings to join Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. in the world's top 10, according to recently published figures.

The annual Top 1,000 World Banks list, which appears in the July issue of the Financial Times' monthly affiliate The Banker, shows Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising two places to fifth, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in its new record eighth place, and Mizuho Financial Group slipping one place to ninth.

However, despite the steady progress of Japanese banks, the report points out they are "still nowhere near as profitable as competitors," citing a combined return on assets of only 0.68 percent compared with equivalent examples of 1.96 percent in the U.S. and 2.84 percent in Latin America.