Mitsubishi Corp., the nation's largest trading house, said Thursday its first-half net profit jumped 39 percent to 60.56 billion yen, thanks to brisk auto trade in Asia.
Revenue during the April-September period rose 19 percent to 7.51 trillion yen.
Net profit generated by Mitsubishi's machinery segment posted a more than four-fold jump to 21.5 billion yen during the same period, driven mainly by the firm's pickup truck business in Thailand and Indonesia.
Profit grew in all segments other than food and textiles, including the metal and energy segments.
The recent stock market rally also bolstered company profits by increasing the value of Mitsubishi's equity holdings.
For the full year to March, the firm expects to generate a net profit of 100 billion yen on revenue of 14.8 trillion yen. This would make Mitsubishi the first trading house in Japan to top the 100 billion yen mark, the officials said.