TOKYO -- One in four listed companies in Japan is on course to log record net profit for the year ending March 2018, as the business environment improves for a range of businesses in both the manufacturing and service sectors.
Friday marked the peak of interim earnings announcements by companies that close books in March. Aggregate sales among the 1,448 such firms that have released their April-September results thus far rose 9% on the year, and pretax profit and net profit both climbed 24%. Of those companies, 347 are expected to generate highest-ever net profit. Having overcome at last the blows of the 2008 financial crisis and appreciation by the yen, many companies are looking forward to their first record profit in a long while.
