Tokyo  - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc saw its net profit drop 51.2 per cent during the April-September period to 83.28 billion yen (870.74 million dollars) from a year earlier, the banking group said Friday.

One of Japan's three mega banking groups, it reported operating revenues of 1.82 trillion yen during the six months, down 12.5 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Sumitomo Mitsui expected its net profit to fall 61 per cent for the full business year through March 31 to 180 billion yen from the year before and operating revenues to decline 20 per cent to 3.7 trillion yen. (dpa)