Mitsubishi UFJ 1H Profit Drops 49 Pct

The bank said it earned 256.72 billion yen ($2.33 billion) in the six months ended Sept. 30, down from 507.27 billion yen a year ago.

Group operating revenue rose 14 percent to 3.250 trillion yen ($29.54 billion) from 2.840 trillion yen a year ago, the bank said.

The fall in earnings comes amid trouble at the group's credit card unit, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos Co., which is scheduled to become a wholly owned subsidiary next year. The unit has been hit by restructuring costs amid tighter regulations requiring lenders to pay back excess interest they charged on consumer loans in the past.

MUFG also said the balance of its investments in debt instruments based on risky U.S. housing loans was about 260 billion yen ($2.36 billion) at the end of September. Appraisal losses on these investments were around 20 billion yen ($182 million), it said.

MUFG left its earnings outlook for the full fiscal year unchanged, forecasting group net profit at 600 billion yen ($5.45 billion) on operating revenue of 6.50 trillion yen ($59.08 billion).