Japan Firms' April-June Capex Up 3.0 Pct

Tokyo, Sept. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japanese nonfinancial companies' combined capital expenditures in April-June rose 3.0 pct from a year before to 8,561.7 billion yen, up for the fifth straight quarter, the Ministry of Finance said Monday. The reading came against the median forecast of a 4.2 pct increase among five economic research institutes. The surveyed companies' recurring profits in the period grew 4.5 pct to 16,386 billion yen, the ministry said. Their sales totaled 315,088.6 billion yen, up 1.1 pct. Capital spending in all industries, including financial firms, rose 2.9 pct to 8,981.7 billion yen. All-industry recurring profits were up 1.1 pct at 20,015.2 billion yen. END