Tokyo - Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) has announced Fridaythat it would incur losses for the previous fiscal year that ended March 31, a turnaround from earliar profit forecasts, a media report said. Sumitomo Mitsui, one of Japan's three mega-banking groups had expected a net profit in November, but it revised downward the full-year forecast amid declining stock prices and the global financial turmoil, the bank said.

SMFG now expects to incur a net loss of 390 billion yen (3.9 billion dollars) for the full year, down from a profit of 461.5 billion yen the year before and from its earlier projection of a 180-billion-yen profit.

The firm plans to enhance its capital base to maintain competitiveness, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported.

Besides Sumitomo Mitsui, the two other mega-banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group, are also expected to revise full-year earnings and incur losses for fiscal 2008.