Shares in Japan’s Aozora Bank have crashed by their maximum limit, after the Tokyo-based lender forecast a full-year loss on overseas real estate loans.
The mid-sized lender had previously forecast a full-year profit of ¥24bn (£130m) but revised that down to a net loss of ¥28bn (£150m) on Thursday.
It warned it would take up to two years for the US office market to stabilise.
Prior to the announcement, shares in the bank were trading close to a five-year high. The profit warning triggered an immediate drop of more than 21%.
Aozora’s profit warning echoed an announcement by New York Community Bancorp the previous day. The US lender said it lost $260m in the fourth quarter and blamed a rise in expected losses from loans tied to US office buildings.
