After suffering some ¥500 billion in losses in three years, consumer lender Promise Co. will seek to return to profit by starting to lend to companies amid high unemployment, according to the company president.
"There are no limits on the volume of funds you can lend to firms, so we'd like to grow that business," Hiroki Jinnai, president of the Tokyo-based lender, said in a recent interview. "I'd like to bring the loan total to at least ¥100 billion."
Promise, which lost ¥125 billion last fiscal year, will turn to corporate lending to sidestep new curbs on excessive lending to individuals. Jinnai, 55, said he will focus on loans of up to ¥5 million to small firms that are ignored by large banks.