TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese trading house Mitsui said on Wednesday it was raising its annual profit forecast by 6% due to an improved performance from its liquefied natural gas and mineral and metal resources businesses.
It now expects a net profit of 820 billion yen ($5.4 billion) for the year ending in March, though that still represents a decline of 8.9% from the previous year.
For the half year, net profit climbed 2.9% from the same period a year ago to 423.7 billion yen.
Mitsui, in which Berkshire Hathaway owns a 10% stake, also said it plans to spend 200 billion yen on share buybacks and to cancel treasury stock equivalent to 2.77% of outstanding stock by the end of March.
The trading house’s business interests span fossil fuel production and trading, renewable energy and food.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
