Mizuho Financial Group on Thursday added to worries about the Japanese banking sector as the country’s second largest bank warned it would report a full-year loss of Y580bn ($5.9bn) rather than a profit of Y100bn in the year to March 2009.

The news – which came after third-ranked Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) revised its full-year figures from a Y180bn profit to a Y390bn loss – highlights the pressures on Japan’s financial institutions from the global crisis, the worsening domestic economy and falling stock prices.