Mizuho Financial Group Inc. raised its full-year profit forecast, buoyed by solid performance of both client-facing and market businesses, along with a cheaper yen.
Japan’s third-largest lender now expects net income of 640 billion yen ($4.2 billion) for the year ending March 31, versus the average analyst estimate of 634 billion yen. At the beginning of this fiscal year, it had forecast profit of 610 billion yen.
Net income was 170.6 billion yen for the three months ended Sept. 30, down 2.4% from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on six-month results released Monday. Mizuho earned 68% of its original annual profit target in the first half, helped by smaller bad-loan costs.
Mizuho is among lenders that are expected to benefit from a potential end to the Bank of Japan’s negative interest-rate policy, which has squeezed lending profitability since its introduction in 2016. Speculation is mounting that the central bank will soon scrap the program as inflation emerges in the world’s third-largest economy.
Outside of the country, Mizuho has been pushing into investment banking in the US with a deal this year to buy Greenhill & Co. to scale up its dealmaking heft. The Japanese bank has entered the top 10 among equity underwriters in the US this year, working on transactions including Arm Holdings Plc’s initial public offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Bigger rivals Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. are scheduled to release their results on Tuesday.
