Management Greeting

I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for your continued interest in the Aozora Group.

In FY2025, the first year of our Mid-term Plan “Aozora 2027,” we made a positive start, with business results exceeding our initial earnings forecasts, driven by our three growth drivers: the Strategic Investments Business, our alliance with Daiwa Securities Group, and GMO Aozora Net Bank.

At present, against the backdrop of Japan’s normalization of yen interest rates and a transition from a deflationary economy to an economic growth phase, companies are actively pursuing strategic initiatives, including M&A, going-private transactions, and share buybacks, thereby creating demand for additional funding. Benefiting from these favorable environmental changes, our Strategic Investments Business, which leverages our strength in areas such as loan originations based on business assessment and structured finance, continues to steadily grow.
Our alliance with Daiwa Securities Group has generated synergies, as evidenced by the growth in number of referrals of corporate customers and transactions as well as in sales of fund wrap products for our retail customers.
GMO Aozora Net Bank achieved positive net income for the first time in FY2025, driven by a steady increase in the number of corporate accounts and deposit balances. We expect GMO Aozora Net Bank to see continued growth and evolution.

Aozora will remain committed to further strengthening our three growth drivers. We will also accelerate our efforts to promote businesses that generate stable, recurring income, including corporate loans that are expected to deliver stable interest income, the wealth management (AUM) business that serves the growing asset management needs of our retail customers, and the fee-based business at GMO Aozora Net Bank, with a view to ensuring stable growth over the medium to long term. By enhancing the quality and stability of our earnings base, we intend to evolve into a banking group that is more resilient to volatility in the operating environment.

This year is a milestone year, as it marks the 25th anniversary of our restart as Aozora Bank in 2001. On this occasion, we have reviewed our founding DNA of “pioneering new fields considered challenging by society” as well as the future we aspire to create, and established a new brand concept.

“Aozora Bank—Creating Possibilities”

“Creating Possibilities” for our customers, employees, and society expresses the future we aspire to create by putting into practice our management philosophy of “contribute to the development of society through the creation of new value-added financial services.”

The Aozora Group intends to enhance corporate value and capital efficiency over the long term by steadily delivering on our Mid-term Plan “Aozora 2027,” as well as by ensuring a highly transparent business portfolio and disciplined risk-taking.

We will continue to commit ourselves, as a group, to the achievement of sustainable growth in order to meet the expectations of all our stakeholders. We sincerely ask for your continued support going forward.