(30 January 2008 – Japan) Although Japanese banks have not been as impacted by the US sub-prime mortgage induced credit crunch as others, Mizuho Financial Group has said it is likely to report losses of more than US$1.9 billion.Mizuho, Japan’s second largest bank, has revised its exposure to the sub-prime market, indicating its loss could reach 250 billion yen, up from the 170 billion yen it first estimated.
Mizuho has said it will prop up its wounded brokerage to the tune of US$1.4 billion.
The brokerage was set to merge with rival Shinko Securities but the deal has been pushed back to May.
Mizuho has forecast a net profit of 650 billion yen for the year to the end of March but this is likely to be revised downwards in light of its sub-prime losses.