TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp reported a six-month net profit of 356 billion yen ($2.4 billion) on Tuesday, down 42% from last year, due to a weaker Australian steelmaking coal business and the absence of capital gains.
The company, in which Berkshire Hathaway holds a stake, kept its net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March unchanged at 700 billion yen.
Mitsubishi, a shareholder with Russia’s Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project, would continue discussions with the Japanese government and partners regarding its stake in the asset, Chief Executive Katsuya Nakanishi said.
The U.S. last month urged Japan, along with other Russian energy buyers, to stop imports, as it pushes the Kremlin towards ending the war in Ukraine. Japan’s long-term contracts with Sakhalin-2 cover about 9% of its LNG imports.
Major Japanese utilities can secure supplies elsewhere, from existing contracts to the spot market, in an event of a supply halt, executives said last week. Most of Japan’s Sakhalin-2 supply contracts expire between 2028 and 2033.
($1 = 150.7800 yen)
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
