TOKYO (Standard&Poor's) May 23, 2014--Japan's five rated major banking groups outperformed a previously strong year with their fiscal 2013 earnings (ended March 31, 2014), but the results only shed more light on the low profitability of their domestic operations, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said in a Japanese-language report published today. The main drivers of the earnings growth were a net reversal of loan loss provisions and higher equity-related gains. In a bid to fuel business growth, the five banking groups may speed up reform of their earnings structure. As a result, increases in risk assets may outpace capital enhancement achieved through profit accumulation, and may lead to negative implications for their credit quality, in our opinion. Going
