BOJ shakes off red in April-Sept. for 1st time in 5 years

The Japanese central bank, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), returned to black in the period from April to September for the first time in five years on a half-year basis, with a net profit of 400.62 billion yen (about 3.94 billion U.S. dollars), according to local media on Wednesday.

The change, compared with a 232.94-billion-yen (about 2.29 billion dollars) loss a year ago, was attributed to the weakening yen and higher share prices, said Japan's Kyodo News.

BOJ said its total assets increased by 58.94 trillion yen ( around 579.14 billion dollars) from a year earlier to a record 208. 86 trillion yen (about 2.05 trillion dollars).

The central bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 7.48 percent as of the end of September, up from 7.45 percent at the end of the previous fiscal year, but still below the 8 to 12 percent range that it considers a sound level, according to the report.