Mitsubishi MUFG profit rises 6.8pc

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters): Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) on Tuesday reported a 6.8 per cent rise in net profit for the year ended March, albeit missing analyst estimates, as lower bad loan costs and gains from equity holdings offset tepid domestic lending.

Japan's largest bank by market valuation said profit totalled 989.7 billion yen ($9.01 billion), versus 926.4 billion yen a year earlier. The result compared with the 1.0 trillion yen average of 13 analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Japanese banks have been suffering diminishing returns from loans to both retail and corporate customers due in part to the Bank of Japan's five-year-old economic stimulus programme, under which the central bank charges private lenders to deposit money with it.