Mizuho plans 10-for-1 stock split -media

TOKYO: Mizuho Financial Group , Japan's second-largest bank, plans to divide its stock through a scheme that will result in a 10-for-1 split, which could draw more individual shareholders, the Nikkei newspaper said on Thursday.

Shares of Mizuho were little changed on the report, up 4.8 percent at 542,000 yen ahead of the bank's full-year earnings results later the same day.

The split, planned for January, is aimed at eliminating the fractions of shares owned by some shareholders, the paper said. Such fractional shares become worthless once Tokyo switches to electronic stock certificates in 2009.

The bank will issue 999 new shares for every existing one, the Nikkei said. At the same time, it will raise the minimum trading unit from one share to 100, the paper said.

That means an investor would need 54,200 yen ($515.8) rather than the current 542,000 yen to buy the minimum unit of Mizuho's stock, based on Thursday's share price.

No one was immediately available for comment at Mizuho. Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp plans a similar move, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , Japan's third-largest bank, may also consider such a split, the paper said.

Top bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has already completed a similar split.