Mizuho posts 17.9% Q1 earnings increase, bolstered by Japan’s end to deflation

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s third-largest lender by assets, Mizuho Financial Group, reported 17.9% growth in first-quarter profit on Wednesday as the long-awaited end of negative interest rates lifted profit margins on lending.

For the April-June quarter, Mizuho reported group net profit of 289 billion yen ($1.89 billion), compared with 245 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

($1 = 152.8200 yen)

(Reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by David Dolan and Tom Hogue)