Combined net income at Japan's three largest banks declined 0.8% year over year to ¥623.48 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017, from ¥628.36 billion in the prior year.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. reported a 20.2% decline in net income for its fiscal third quarter from the prior year, partly because operating expenses for its overseas units jumped and the yen weakened.
Meanwhile, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. posted a 22.9% rise in net profit and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. reported a 8.6% increase. Stock-related gains were one factor pushing up their earnings, according to the banks' presentations.
The three Japanese megabanks have been struggling with tapering profitability in their home market, due to weak domestic demand for loans and a negative interest rate engineered by the central bank. They have turned to overseas markets to seek new growth drivers, although rising operating costs started to backfire. Earlier in 2017, the three lenders announced plans to cut thousands of jobs to trim costs.

As of Feb. 7, US$1 was equivalent to ¥109.51.
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