Mizuho Financial Group has raised its annual profit forecast and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s earnings have exceeded expectations, as Japanese banks see tailwinds from rising interest rates and a clearer economic outlook.
Tokyo-based Mizuho now expects net income to reach a record ¥1.02 trillion ($6.9 billion) in the year ending March 31, up from ¥940 billion projected earlier, it said Thursday. Sumitomo Mitsui’s first-quarter profit reached about 29% of its full-year goal, which it left unchanged at ¥1.3 trillion.
Japan’s three biggest banks in May predicted another year of record profits, even as the nation’s export-driven economy was at risk from U.S. tariff threats.
