Mizuho posts surprise Q1 rise, keeps forecast

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) posted a surprise 14.2 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, rebounding from the previous year's heavy subprime losses, and stuck to its forecast for growth this year.

Mizuho, Japan's second-largest bank, lost $6 billion on subprime investments in the year to March 2008, becoming Asia's biggest casuality of the credit crisis.

Mizuho said group net profit totalled 133 billion yen ($1.2 billion) for the three months ended in June, up from 116.5 billion yen a year earlier.

The bank kept its forecast for a profit of 560 billion yen for the year to March 2009, representing an 80 percent rebound from the previous year's subprime-hit downturn.

That compares to an average estimate of 557.5 billion yen in a poll of 12 analysts by Reuters Estimates. Most analysts do not provide first-quarter estimates.

Shares of Mizuho rose 36 percent during the April-June quarter, rebounding from a four-year low. So far this year, the shares are up just 2 percent. (Reporting by David Dolan, Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)