By Kosaku Narioka

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's profits in the last fiscal year reached a new record partly due to higher rates on its loans and said it wants to further boost earnings this year.

The Japanese financial company's net profit for the 12 months ended March rose 30% to a record 2.427 trillion yen, equivalent to $15.36 billion, it said Friday.

Earnings were helped by rising loan interest rates in Japan. These have increased thanks to higher Japanese government bond yields, which serve as a reference rate. Higher JGB yields also mean banks receive higher returns from bonds and other investments.

Although the Bank of Japan hasn't raised policy rates since December last year, it has signalled that rate increases are on the table, pressuring up JGB yields. Concerns about increased costs for energy and other imported goods have also pushed yields higher.

The 10-year JGB yield earlier on Friday rose to 2.730%, its highest level since May 1997.

Mitsubishi UFJ said it would target an annual net profit of Y2.700 trillion and raised its return-on-equity goal to about 12% for this fiscal year, up from its previous target of about 9%. Its return on equity was 11.3% for the year ended March.

The company also said it would buy back up to Y100 billion of its own shares by the end of June.

The company's annual net profit beat the estimate of Y2.262 trillion from a poll of analysts by data provider Visible Alpha.

For the year ended March, net interest income--the difference between interest paid on deposits and that earned on loans--climbed 4.5% to Y3.006 trillion thanks partly to higher loan rates in Japan. Net fees and commissions rose 14% to Y2.227 trillion.

Mitsubishi UFJ booked credit costs of Y355.88 billion, up from Y108.73 billion the previous fiscal year, as it prepared for a possible rise in credit risks related to the Middle East conflict.

Mitsubishi UFJ's stock climbed 1.8% on Friday, bringing year-to-date gains to 17%, following a 35% rise in 2025.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 15, 2026 06:19 ET (10:19 GMT)

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