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Aozora Bank Expecting 1st Net loss in 15 Years in FY 2023

REUTERS/Toshiyuki Aizawa
The headquarters of Aozora Bank towers in Tokyo

Jiji Press

17:45 JST, February 1, 2024

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Aozora Bank said Thursday that it expects to log a group net loss of ¥28 billion in the fiscal year through March, its first red ink on an annual basis in 15 years.

The Japanese bank earlier projected a net profit of ¥24 billion for fiscal 2023.

The downward revision comes as the bank increased reserves to cover possible losses on loans for U.S. commercial real estate amid a deteriorating market. It will also write off losses on securities, including foreign bonds, whose latent losses have ballooned due to a rise in U.S. interest rates.

The bank last saw a net loss, totaling ¥242.5 billion, in the year through March 2009.

Also on Thursday, Aozora Bank said that Deputy President Hideto Omi will succeed Kei Tanikawa as its president on April 1.

By appointing 58-year-old Omi, the bank aims to rejuvenate its management in order to further grow its mainstay investment banking business.

Tanikawa, 61, will also step down as representative director at the bank’s general shareholders meeting in June.

Omi, who joined Aozora Bank’s predecessor, Nippon Credit Bank, in 1989, has worked on corporate acquisitions for many years. Most recently, he led its investment banking business.

He became deputy president in July 2021.