Tokyo: Hitachi said on Wednesday its net profit for the six months to September nearly tripled as the Japanese giant hiked its full-year earnings forecast.

The vast conglomerate said net profit soared to 91.54 billion yen (Dh3.11 billion, $850 million) during the first half of its fiscal year to March, up from 32.77 billion yen a year earlier, as it pointed to a strong performance in its information technology and elevator divisions. Operating profit rose about 23 per cent to 214.02 billion yen on sales of 4.50 trillion yen, up 0.6 per cent, said the company which sells everything from batteries to nuclear plants. Hitachi also revised up its annual forecast.