Corporate profits in the April-June quarter sank 12.0 percent from the previous year as escalating trade tensions between the United States and China took their toll, Finance Ministry data showed Monday.
Still the ¥23.23 trillion ($218.83 billion) tally for pretax profits was the second-highest on record, coming off a 10.3 percent jump in the January-March quarter.
Capital spending by manufacturers for such tasks as building factories, adding equipment and software fell 6.9 percent to ¥3.62 trillion, down for the first time in eight quarters.