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 encourages 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.
Net profit for the April-June period came to 422.9 billion yen ($2.59 billion) compared with 290.5 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.The Bank of Japan is set to keep interest rates steady at 1 per cent at its monetary policy meeting on Friday, but analysts polled by Reuters expect a hike to 1.25 per cent by the end of December and potentially as soon as October.($1 = 163.5800 yen)
