By Arata Hashizume / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Japan's five major trading houses all expect their net profits to rise in the consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2027, according to their earnings forecasts.
Factors such as soaring resource prices stemming from the escalation of the Middle East conflict are expected to boost the earnings of Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., Itochu Corp., Sumitomo Corp. and Marubeni Corp.
However, the companies are also increasing their vigilance against potential future risks, such as supply chain disruptions or a slowdown in the global economy.
Mitsubishi expects its net profit to reach 1.1 trillion yen for this fiscal year, up 37.4% from the previous year, marking the trading house's first net profit increase in four fiscal years. The company projects the profit of its energy and power division to increase by 153 billion yen, buoyed by the improved performance of its natural gas business due to factors including a market upswing.
Mitsui also anticipates that its net profit will increase for the first time in four fiscal years to reach 920 billion yen, up 10.3% from the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, Itochu, Sumitomo and Marubeni expect their net profits to reach record highs. Marubeni sees its metals business growing, driven by improved market conditions for metals including copper and aluminum.
The Middle East conflict may affect trading houses in both positive and negative ways. Rising prices of crude oil and other resources will have a positive impact on their earnings. However, if rising transportation costs and disruptions in logistics networks caused by the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz result in a slowdown of the global economy, it could drag down the performance of these trading companies, which operate a wide variety of businesses worldwide.
At a press conference held May 1, Marubeni President and CEO Masayuki Omoto brought up naphtha, for which shortages have become a global concern. "Procurement (of naphtha) from the Middle East has slowed, but we are succeeding in finding alternative sources," Omoto said.
Omoto also stressed that the company will monitor the risks associated with the Middle East conflict dragging on, including the need to adjust the production of petroleum-related products, as well as the risk of a global economic slowdown.
Itochu, in its calculations, assumed that disruptions to supply chains and other issues would continue until around December even if the Middle East conflict subsides by June. The company projected that this would deprive it of 40 billion yen in profits. Mitsubishi and Sumitomo expected their profits to be pushed down by 30 billion yen.
"It is possible that rising oil prices and naphtha issues will have a delayed impact on the world," said Mitsubishi President and CEO Katsuya Nakanishi.
Itochu, Sumitomo and Marubeni all saw their net profits rise to record highs in their consolidated financial results for the fiscal year that ended March 2026. By contrast, the net profits of Mitsubishi and Mitsui dropped due to falling prices of coal and other resources.
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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
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May 07, 2026 02:50 ET (06:50 GMT)
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