TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese trading house Mitsubishi on Monday posted a net profit of 203.1 billion yen ($1.4 billion) in the three months to June 30, down 43% from a year ago but beating analysts’ forecasts.
An LSEG poll of analysts had expected the company to post 180.3 billion yen in the first-quarter net profit. In the same period of last year, Mitsubishi saw a net profit of 354.4 billion yen.
This year, the profit was mainly down due to the absence of gains from asset sales and weaker prices in the Australian steelmaking coal business, the company said.
Mitsubishi left its forecast for the fiscal year ending next March unchanged at 700 billion yen.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has taken minority stakes in Japan’s top five trading houses, including Mitsubishi.
($1 = 147.6600 yen)
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Kim Coghill)
