Mizuho posts 45% jump in first-quarter profit, raises annual forecast
Logo of Mizuho Financial Group at its head office in Tokyo, Japan, June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
TOKYO, July 30 : Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group reported a 45 per cent rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, a sign that loan demand has stayed strong despite volatile global energy markets and supply chain disruptions caused by war in the Middle East.
Japan’s third-largest banking group also raised its annual profit forecast to 1.4 trillion yen ($8.56 billion) – which would be a record – for the year ending March 2027.
Japanese banks’ profitability has surged in recent years as the end of decades of deflation spurs companies to take out loans to fund growth investments, capital expenditure and mergers and acquisitions.
Banks have also benefited from higher spreads between deposits and loans as the Bank of Japan has raised interest rates in response to inflation.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Net profit for the April-June period stood at 422.9 billion yen ($2.59 billion), versus 290.5 billion in the year-earlier period.
Mizuho’s domestic loan and deposit rate margin in the first quarter rose to 1.26 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent in the year ended March 2026.
The results were also lifted by higher fee revenues, for instance from investment banking, with non-interest income growing about 20 per cent over the first quarter last year, to reach 376.8 billion yen.
The group also doubled the size of its share buyback programme to 200 billion yen.
The Bank of Japan is set to keep interest rates steady at 1 per cent at a monetary policy meeting on Friday, but analysts polled by Reuters expect a hike to 1.25 per cent by the end of December and possibly as soon as October.
($1=163.5800 yen)
Source: Reuters
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
About The Author
