Economics
Japan Inc. Profit Doubles to Add Support to Economic Rebound
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Japan’s top listed companies doubled earnings last quarter from a year earlier, exceeding already high forecasts and generating support for the economic recovery effort of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
With almost all of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average companies reporting, profit surged 103 percent and beat analyst estimates by 16 percent, the most in two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Companies topping estimates range from Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. to Shiseido Co. and Kobe Steel Ltd.