SMFG posted a profit of 240.6 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in the October-December period versus 168.7 billion yen, according to Reuters' calculations based on nine-month cumulative figures disclosed in a stock exchange filing.

SMFG kept its full-year profit forecast through March at 770 billion yen, which compared with the 794.8 billion yen average of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

A level of loan-loss provisions remained subdued, as the Japanese government continued to normalise the nation's social and economic activities.

A weak yen, driven by a widening gap between U.S. and Japanese interest rates, inflated profits earned abroad. A brisk lending business in Japan and abroad also helped lift quarterly earnings.

Shares of SMFG have jumped about 20% since the Bank of Japan's surprise tweak to its bond yield control in late December, a decision that sparked expectations that the central bank could change its interest rate policy soon.

An exit from ultra-easy policy would widen the spread between deposit and lending rates, a boost for Japanese banks' core earnings after years of being squeezed by rock-bottom rates.

($1 = 129.4600 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Kim Coghill and Gerry Doyle)