AIOI TO REPORT ¥80BN+ LOSS ON SUBPRIME INVESTMENTS SAY REPORTS

Japanese top-four insurer Aioi is going to report a loss of more than ¥80bn ($743m) for the year to March, claims a report in yesterday’s Yomiuri . Aioi had a book value of ¥111.4bn ascribed to the securitised paper as of September 30, implying a 70% writedown in six months. Today’s Japan Today predicted that the loss would be closer to ¥90bn. A loss of ¥25.2bn had been booked in the six months to September 30. The Yomiuri report said that Aioi would likely post appraisal losses of more than ¥60bn when it reports nine-month earnings to December 31, figures which are scheduled for release this coming Friday. The Yomiuri report said that Aioi would not be able to avoid a large downward revision to its profit forecast for the full financial year to March 31. Aioi said today that it would be releasing an earnings outlook for the full fiscal year as soon as possible. The company’s share price fell by more than 10% in early trading on the Japan bourse, looking set to fall to its lowest closing price since November 2004.