Most of Japan's major trading houses have posted record net profits for the first-half of the fiscal year. This is due to higher prices of natural resources and the rapid depreciation of the yen.

Mitsubishi logged a record net income of 720 billion yen, or 4.9 billion dollars, in the April-to-September period. That's almost double the figure from a year earlier.

The company also upgraded its forecast for the whole year through next March. Mitsubishi now expects a record profit of just over one trillion yen, or about seven billion dollars.

Mitsui was among the other leading trading houses to book record net profits. Its six-month figure came in at 539 billion yen, or 3.7 billion dollars.

Itochu was the only major firm to not report a record number, with the company posting its second-highest first-half figure.