Otsuka's Profit Jumps 15% in Q1
Otsuka's (TYO:4768) profit attributable to owners of the parent climbed 15% to 16.7 billion yen for the first quarter, from 14.5 billion yen a year earlier.The office equipment company's basic earnings per share increased to 44.01 yen from 38.22 yen a year ago, according to a Tokyo bourse filing on Thursday.Net sales rose 9.3% to 344.8 billion yen for the three months ended March 31 from 315.5 billion yen in the prior-year period.For the year ending Dec. 31, the company expects attributable profit of 61.1 billion yen, basic EPS of 161.21 yen, and net sales of 1.311 trillion yen.Otsuka plans to pay interim and year-end dividends of 50 yen and 45 yen per share, respectively, for the year, which is higher than the amount paid in the year-ago period.
