Japan's Major Trading Firms Report Profit Declines

Japanese trading firms have taken a hit from a drop in the price of crude oil and other resource. Four out of five major traders reported profit declines for the April-June quarter. 
Mitsui and Company posted 600 million dollars in net profit, down nearly 37% from the same quarter the year before. The company logged its first-ever annual loss last fiscal year, due mainly to a plunge in resource-related earnings, Japan's (NHK WORLD) reported. 
Sumitomo Corporation's quarterly net profit was down more than 70% at about 220 million dollars, while Marubeni posted a 32% decline in profits, at 474 million dollars. 
Itochu, which relies less on resources, had a profit of 715 million dollars. That's down 40% from last year, when its bottom line was bolstered by sales of its housing materials business in North America. 
Mitsubishi Corporation stood out from the pack with a 34% rise in profits, to about 990 million dollars. The company was in the red in fiscal 2015, but managed to lift its fortunes by selling off some of its resource concessions.