TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese trading house Itochu reported on Friday a record annual net profit of 880.3 billion yen ($6 billion), bolstered by its textile, food, and FamilyMart convenience store units.
Profit rose 10% from the previous year, although it was slightly below an LSEG poll’s forecast for a 887 billion yen net profit for the year that ended in March.
The company has forecast profit for the year ending next March at 900 billion yen, which includes a one-off gain of 88 billion yen from the sale of its shares in C.P. Pokphand, a unit of Thailand’s food giant Charoen Pokphand Foods.
Since forming a strategic alliance in 2014, Itochu and the Charoen Pokphand Group have generated synergies through trade and joint investments, bringing a total profit of 120 billion yen to the Japanese company, Itochu’s Chief Financial Officer Tsuyoshi Hachimura said at a news conference.
“The deal brought great returns,” he said.
Asked about the impact of U.S. tariffs, Hachimura expressed concern that they could dampen global economic growth and sentiment, rather than having a significant effect on the company’s imports and exports.
For the current year, Itochu also maintained a total shareholder payout ratio of 50%.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, a large minority shareholder in Itochu, has been expanding its stake in the company as well as in other Japanese trading houses including Marubeni and Sumitomo Corp.
($1 = 145.2400 yen)
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Susan Fenton)
