Tokyo - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, Japan's third-largest bank, on Wednesday reported a 74-per-cent decline in profits for the first nine months of the fiscal year.

Net profit for April through December dropped to 83.4 billion yen (934 million dollars) after 319.5 billion yen in the same period last year.

Responsible for the slump were a radical rise in credit costs as well as losses generated by dropping stock values, the company said.

Operating profit dropped from 3.2 trillion yen to 2.8 trillion yen year-on-year.

The bank did not release any data for the third quarter, but according to estimates, net profits dropped by 99 per cent to 154 million yen after 148.9 billion yen in the same quarter the previous year.

Despite a deepening recession, the bank kept its earnings forecast and predicted net profit of 180 billion yen for the full year, 60 per cent less than the year before.

Operating profit was expected to drop by 20 per cent to 3.7 billon yen.