SMFG books 12% rise in Q3 profit, on track for another record year
(Corrects annual profit forecast figure to 1.5 trillion yen, not billion, in paragraph 3)
TOKYO, Jan 30 : Japan's second largest banking group Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group reported a 12 per cent rise in third quarter net profit, it said on Friday.
SMFG generated net profit of 461 billion yen ($3 billion)over October-December, up from 410.8 billion yen over the same period the previous year.
The group maintained its annual profit forecast of 1.5 trillion yen for the year ended March 2026, having hiked it from 1.3 trillion yen in November.
The results put SMFG on track for another record-breaking year as rising interest rates lift lending margins and a wave of M&A and capital expenditure among Japanese firms boost demand for loans.
Japan's banking sector has been among the largest beneficiaries of the return of inflation to the country that pushed the central bank to end eight years of negative interest rates and has spurred companies to seek out greater return on their assets.
The Bank of Japan lifted the base rate to 0.75 per cent in December and SMFG estimates each hike of 25 basis points boosts its annual earnings by 100 billion yen.
It hit a record 1.18 trillion yen net profit in the year ended March 2025.
Fellow "megabanks" Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group - Japan's largest and third largest lenders, respectively - report earnings next week.
($1 = 153.8700 yen)
