TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s second-largest bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, reported on Friday an increase of 24.2% in first-quarter net profit as improved economic conditions helped boost its main lending business.
Profit was 252.4 billion yen ($1.90 billion) in the April-June period versus 203.2 billion. That compared with an average estimate of 156.33 billion yen from two analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
The banking group maintained its full-year net profit forecast at 730 billion yen, compared to the average of 742.33 billion forecast by 12 analysts.
Ordinary income grew 40% in the quarter, thanks to solid performance of the core business.
Demand for loans is coming back in industrial lending, as well as at the bank’s credit card and consumer finance business units, as eased pandemic curbs have helped revive commercial activities, it said.
Separately, Mizuho Financial Group Inc, the third-largest lender by assets, reported a drop of 36% in first-quarter net profit from a year ago, when earnings were boosted by tax-related gains.
Mizuho also took additional loan loss provisions for its $3- billion exposure to auto parts supplier Marelli Holdings Co, which entered a court-led restructuring process after a voluntary debt workout failed to gain full support.
($1=132.6800 yen)
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Rocky Swift; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Clarence Fernandez)
