REFILE-UPDATE 2-Aozora cuts forecast 43 pct on rising bad loans

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TOKYO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Aozora Bank (8304.T) said it would miss its full-year forecast by nearly 43 percent, squeezed by rising bad loans and the absence of an expected tax benefit.

The bank also said it would fall to a loss for the first half, as it moved forward its scheduled write-downs from GMAC, the former financing arm of General Motors Corp (GM.N).

The profit warning marks the latest of several setbacks for Aozora, which is nearly half-owned by U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP [CBS.UL].

It is the second time in two months that the bank has nearly halved its full-year estimates.

The revision also underscores the worsening outlook for small and medium-size lenders in Japan, which are once again faced with higher costs from bad loans as the domestic economy continues to worsen.

For the full year, the bank expects a group net profit of 15 billion yen ($140 million), compared with its previous estimate of 26.2 billion yen.

Aozora also said it was unable to include a tax boost, related to its GMAC write-downs, in its full-year forecast.

The bank had originally estimated a profit of 44 billion but sliced that by 40 percent in August as it was forced to further write down the value of its investment in GMAC.

Aozora also said it would book a net loss of 4 billion yen in the first half as it books a bigger chunk of the GMAC write- downs in the first half, rather than the second half, as it had previously planned. (Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Hugh Lawson)