JAPAN

Sumitomo Bank to Post $2.8-Billion Loss: Sumitomo Bank earned a dubious distinction in saying it would become the first major Japanese bank to post a loss in five decades. Sumitomo, the country’s biggest commercial bank in asset terms at end-September, 1994, said it would post a $2.8-billion loss in the current business year as it scrambles to write off a huge backlog of bad loans. As a result, Sumitomo said its bad loans would be reduced by 20% to more than $9 billion at the end of March from about $11.9 billion at end of September. Analysts said Sumitomo’s decision was likely to spur several other big banks to reveal losses, because Tokyo’s protracted stock market slump has made it difficult to raise funds to get rid of bad loans.