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% 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% 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 1% – comparing favourably with the overall 0.4% rise on the exchange.
SMFG also posted a 5% 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.