2008-10-27 Taking Medicine for Taking Morgan Stanley:
After taking Morgan Stanley, the stomach ache has already forced Mitsubishi into the capital raising markets. It will be interesting to see if this is the only distress Morgan gives Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
<>
2008-10-13 Taking Morgan Stanley:
Morgan Stanley reported abysmal earnings, but said it had confidence in its model. Then the bank changed that model from investment to deposit banking and made the rounds peddling itself to any and everyone. Finally Mitsubishi dropped a $9B hunk o’ burnin change in exchange for a 21 percent stake in Morgan. Who knows why or what Mitsubishi wants, but they got it!
2008-04-23 - Mitsubishi is Hit:
Mitsubishi Financial Group reported realized subprime related losses of 81($0.76) billion Yen for the end of March 2008. According to the company’s year end report,
Our net unrealized gains (losses) on other
securities available for sale were ¥1.00
trillion, reflecting the stock market decline
and net unrealized losses of securitized
products.
Mitsubishi UFJ has avoided the worst of the financial market turmoil that has caused billion of dollars of writedowns and credit losses at global banks and forced Citigroup Inc., UBS AG and Merrill Lynch & Co. to raise money and slash jobs. The banks $760 million write downs and zero raise capital is paltry by comparison.
2008-02-23 - Mitsubishi is Boxed In:
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. face profit declines of 40 percent or more as Japan’s economy weakens and subprime mortgage problems spread.
2008-02-23:
Despite having invested primarily in “highly rated” subprime mortgage-backed assets, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MTU) could not outrun the tsunami of finical slime exported world wide from the United States.
Mitsubishi reported that its profit fell 54.4 percent in the nine months from April to December 2007, by write-downs for its credit card business and losses related to subprime loan exposure. Total net income for the nine months came in at 314.7 billion yen ($2.9B) from 690.5 ($6.4 b) billion yen a year before. The bank had accumulated a loss of just 4 billion yen ($40M) on its investments in subprime mortgage related securities for the first half — April to September– of fiscal 2007.
But ratings downgrades have sent prices plunging since November. The resulting turmoil has adversely affected other market segments not directly tied to these mortgages, the Japanese business daily reported.
So, by the end of Q3 the subprime related losses were more than 12 times the November figure:
Mitsubishi UFJ recorded a 51 billion yen ($480M) loss on U.S. mortgage-related investments in the third quarter, adding to first-half losses of 4 billion yen ($40M), according to the statement.
The subprime relates losses are expected to continue unabated through fiscal year end 2007. The company said
These losses are expected to reach 95 billion yen ($890M) in the year to March 2008 from an earlier estimate of 27 billion yen ($250M).
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.’s subsidiary bank in California is UnionBanCal Corp. the twentieth largest US bank by deposits.
