SMFG marks 73% fall in April-Dec. net profit on financial turmoil+

TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday its group net profit plunged 73.9 percent in the nine months through December from a year earlier to 83.44 billion yen on loan-loss provisions and other credit costs amid the global financial turmoil.

Consolidated pretax profit lost 47.4 percent to 276.37 billion yen on operating
revenues of 2.83 trillion yen, down 12.7 percent, said SMFG, one of Japan's
three mega-banking groups.
Operating profit from core banking operations at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.,
the banking unit under the group, gained 10.7 percent to 627.35 billion yen.
SMFG's credit costs, including the provisions set aside for possible defaults,
increased 67.8 percent to 399.39 billion yen as the financial turmoil and
ensuing worldwide economic downturn increasingly hurt the business performance
of its borrowers.
Affected by falls in share prices, the group also recorded a loss of 106.10
billion yen in its stock and other investments, almost double from a year
earlier.
SMFG, which has acquired a 2 percent stake in Barclays Plc, said it booked no
losses related with its shareholdings in the British bank during the third
quarter of fiscal 2008.
For the full business year, it projects a net profit of 180 billion yen, down
61.0 percent from the previous year, and pretax profit of 480 billion yen, down
42.2 percent, on operating revenues of 3.7 trillion yen, down 20.0 percent.
==Kyodo
2009-01-28 22:29:40