TOKYO: Japan Airlines (JAL) on Tuesday upgraded its full-year forecast as it booked a modest gain in half-year net profit thanks to solid domestic and international sales.

JAL said net profit rose 9.2 percent year-on-year to 78.0 billion yen ($690 million) for the six months to September.

Revenue for the period increased 6.2 percent to 692.3 billion yen, as the airline said it enjoyed robust inbound demand from overseas and buoyant outbound demand.

“Demand for business use remains strong, while the industry’s sentiment has recovered from last year when the aviation industry faced the impact of terrorism,” Hiroshi Hasegawa, an analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo, said before the earnings announcement.

The company, which raised its annual forecast just three months ago, again upgraded its full-year projections. It now sees 121 billion yen in net profit for the fiscal year to March 2018 — up from 108 billion yen forecast earlier.—AFP