Itochu Corp. on Monday reported a group net profit of ¥40.23 billion for the April-June period, up 96.9 percent from a year earlier, on higher resource and energy prices.

Operating profit in the first quarter increased to ¥47.16 billion from ¥13.09 billion the year before on sales of ¥2.73 trillion, up 24.5 percent, the trading house said.

Higher prices for metal, rubber and pulp contributed to the profit increase, it said.

Itochu left unchanged its forecasts for the year, estimating a net profit of ¥160 billion, up 24.9 percent from last year, and an operating profit of ¥260 billion, up 76.4 percent, on sales of ¥11.5 trillion, up 11.6 percent.