Mitsubishi UFJ profit dives on one-off losses linked to US unit sale, Grab

MITSUBISHI UFJ Financial Group reported a 70 per cent plunge in first-quarter net profit, blaming one-off losses related to the sale of MUFG Union Bank and a drop in the value of its stake in ride-hailing firm Grab Holdings.

The bank, Japan’s largest lender by assets, booked an appraisal loss of US$1.9 billion on bonds and other assets held by MUFG Union Bank, an accounting treatment required ahead of the US$8 billion sale of the US retail banking unit to US Bancorp later this year.

The previously flagged loss would be partly offset when the sale is complete, and the overall impact on full-year net profit is expected to be around 200 billion yen (S$2.1 billion), the bank said.

Mitsubishi UFJ, which owns 21.5 per cent of Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley, also took a 43.2 billion yen writedown on the value of its stake in Grab, South-east Asia’s biggest ride-hailing firm, to reflect its sliding share price.

The Japanese bank invested US$706 million in Grab in 2020 as it sought growth amid a prolonged low interest-rate environment and a shrinking population at home.

Net profit came in at 113.7 billion yen for the April-June period, against 383.1 billion yen a year earlier, the bank said on Tuesday.

But Mitsubishi UFJ saw strong growth in net interest income, money earned from loans and securities above their costs of funds.

Demand for loans picked up particularly overseas as higher interest rates pushed up costs for financing through debt markets, making loans more attractive, the bank said.

Mitsubishi UFJ maintained its full-year profit forecast of 1 trillion yen, a 12 per cent drop from the previous year when it posted a record profit. The outlook compared with an average forecast of 1.05 trillion yen from 13 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

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The two other Japanese megabanks, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group, also maintained their full-year profit forecasts when they reported last week. REUTERS