Japan lender SMFG reports 69% surge in H1 net profit

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a sign board of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, part of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (SMFG) outside its branch in Tokyo, Japan, January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (SMFG), Japan's second-largest lender by assets, reported on Friday a 69% jump in half-year net profit.

Net profit came in at 456 billion yen ($3.99 billion) in the April-September period compared to 270 billion yen a year earlier, the bank said.

For the full year through March, SMFG raised its forecast for profit to 670 billion yen from an earlier estimate of 600 billion yen. That compared with the 673.85 billion yen average of 11 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

($1 = 114.2100 yen)

(Reporting by Rocky Swift and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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