TOKYO Japanese trading houses Mitsubishi Corp and Sumitomo Corp posted declines in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, moving away from record-high earnings as global commodity prices fell.
The price of fossil fuels such as liquefied natural gas and thermal coal have dropped more than 60 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively, in value so far this year, coming off peaks last year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Peer Sumitomo reported a 16.6 percent drop in April-June profit to 129.4 billion yen compared to the 121.4 billion yen average forecast of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
On Tuesday, trading house Mitsui Co posted an 8 percent drop in first-quarter profit at 252.8 billion yen, after taking a 44 billion yen hit from lower commodity prices.