Pretax profits at Japanese companies in October to December fell 2.8 percent from a year earlier, marking the first decline in eight quarters, hurt by surging energy and raw material costs even as capital spending continued to grow in a positive sign for the economy, government data showed Thursday.The decline was led by manufacturers dealing with chemicals, petroleum and coal, as they failed to fully pass on higher costs. But service providers continued to benefit from a pickup in demand for entertainment and travel since the lifting of anti-coronavirus curbs in Japan.The combined pretax p…READ FULL ARTICLE
