The combined group pretax profit of all firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange is likely to have set a record for the year to March 31 by eclipsing 20 trillion yen, a research institute said Friday.
The previous record was 18 trillion yen in fiscal 2000, when the economy was fired up by the information technology boom, Shinko Research Institute, a research arm of Shinko Securities Co., said.
The institute traced the solid earnings of the listed companies to spirited domestic sales of digital home appliances and strong exports to China, in addition to personnel cuts and other cost-cutting efforts at many firms.