Kao Corp. said Thursday it expects to generate a record pretax profit in fiscal 2003 for the 23rd consecutive year.
Pretax profit rose 3.1 percent in the nine months to Dec. 31 from a year earlier to 109.52 billion yen, the maker of cleansing, personal-care and sanitary products said.
Kao attributed the favorable earnings to brisk sales of new products, such as tea and shampoos, which offset advertising costs and sluggish sales of household products.
Kao said it expects its group pretax profit to increase 2.1 percent in fiscal 2003 from the previous year to 120 billion yen, on a 4 percent gain in sales.