Japan's Mitsui lifts full-year profit forecast by 6%

TOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Mitsui 8031.T said on Wednesday it was raising its annual profit forecast by 6% due to an improved performance from its liquefied natural gas and mineral and metal resources businesses.

It now expects a net profit of 820 billion yen ($5.4 billion) for the year ending in March, though that still represents a decline of 8.9% from the previous year.

For the half year, net profit climbed 2.9% from the same period a year ago to 423.7 billion yen.

Mitsui, in which Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N owns a 10% stake, also said it plans to spend 200 billion yen on share buybacks and to cancel treasury stock equivalent to 2.77% of outstanding stock by the end of March.

The trading house's business interests span fossil fuel production and trading, renewable energy and food.