Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) might increase its full-year dividend, the Nikkei newspaper reports.
Japan's third-largest bank is to lift the payout by 17 per cent in the year to March 2009 - bringing it up from 2,000 to 14,000 yen.
The move would help to alleviate problems SMFG has been experiencing with its share price, which has fallen by 21 per cent over the past year.
SMFG refused to comment on the dividend speculation, Reuters reports.
Nevertheless, the markets reacted to the Nikkei report by increasing shares in the bank by one per cent - comparing favourably with the overall 0.4 per cent rise on the exchange.
SMFG also posted a five per cent rise in annual profit, with healthy sales of bonds counterbalancing credit crunch-related losses at the bank.
Overall net income for the year to March 2008 stood at 462 billion yen - around $4.4 billion.
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