Hitachi profit soars 31% in first quarter

Japan's Hitachi said Wednesday its net profit surged 31.3 percent in the April-June quarter, aided by a sharp drop in the yen, cost cuts and strong results in its auto and railway divisions.

The vast conglomerate booked net income of 54.9 billion yen ($445 million) for the first quarter of the fiscal year, up from 41.8 billion yen a year earlier.

Sales climbed 6.9 percent to 2.3 trillion yen for the three months, said the company which sells everything from batteries to nuclear plants.

A sharp drop in the yen boosted major Japanese exporters including Hitachi, making them more competitive overseas and inflating their bottom line.

The company also pointed to a solid performance in its auto and electronic-related products as well as its lifts and railway system divisions.

In February Hitachi said it would buy the rail and traffic signal businesses of Italy's Finmeccanica, in a deal that could reach more than $2.0 billion as it looks to take on global rail giants.

The acquisition was expected to push up Hitachi's annual rail-related sales to more than 400 billion yen -- about half that of Canada's Bombardier, Siemens of Germany or France's Alstom.

For the year to March next year, Hitachi kept its full-year forecast unchanged, estimating that its net profit would be 310 billion yen on sales of 9.9 trillion yen.