Japan Jan.-March Capital Spending Up 4.2 Pct

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)--Japanese nonfinancial companies' combined capital expenditures in January-March rose 4.2 pct from a year before to 13,680.5 billion yen, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday. The reading came against the median forecast of a 1.7 pct increase among six economic research institutes surveyed by Jiji Press. The nonfinancial companies' recurring profits in the final quarter of fiscal 2015 shrank 9.3 pct to 15,899.7 billion yen, the ministry said. Their sales totaled 332,087.4 billion yen, down 3.3 pct. Capital spending in all industries, including the financial sector, rose 4.1 pct to 14,447.9 billion yen. All-industry recurring profits were down 10.8 pct at 18,308.1 billion yen.Copyright JIJI PRESS LTD.