OREANDA-NEWS. February 05, 2015. Hitachi said Wednesday its net profit surged 37.4 percent to \\$1.5 billion for the nine months to December, while it upgraded its full-year sales forecast.

The vast conglomerate said it had made 174.9 billion yen during the period, up from 127.3 billion yen a year earlier. It pointed to a strong performance in its information technology as well as its elevator and train system divisions.

Operating profit rose 9.0 percent to 322.2 billion yen "with all segments recording higher profits than the same period last year, with the exception of the power systems and construction machinery segments", Hitachi said.

Sales inched up 0.6 percent to 6.8 trillion yen for the nine months, said the company which sells everything from batteries to nuclear plants.

Hitachi revised up its annual forecast, and is now expecting sales of 9.6 trillion yen for the fiscal year to March, up from a previous outlook of 9.5 billion yen.

The firm has left its full-year projections on net profit and operating profit unchanged at 250.0 billion yen and 580.0 billion yen respectively.

Hitachi shares closed up 0.19 percent at 866.6 yen in Tokyo. Its results were published after markets closed.-