Japan's Mitsubishi may consider investing in Alaska LNG project, CEO says

By Yuka Obayashi

TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T may consider investing in an LNG project in Alaska, though any decision will require careful review, Chief Executive Katsuya Nakanishi said on Thursday.

An Alaskan delegation visited Japan last week to brief policymakers and meet possible backers of the $44 billion natural gas project in the U.S. state, which is part of President Donald Trump's push to boost U.S. gas exports.

"We have been approached and are considering it," Nakanishi told reporters when asked about possible participation in the Alaska LNG project.

"However, we need to conduct thorough due diligence," he said, noting that this project has been proposed many times in the past and is not new to the Trump administration.

Mitsubishi plans to carefully evaluate its feasibility, considering factors such as the 1,300 km (808 miles) distance to the West coast, the need to build liquefaction facilities, and future LNG demand in Southeast Asia and other regions.

According to Alaskan officials, the project is likely to attract U.S. investors for most of the pipeline part, while any equity from Japan or other Asian buyers will likely be tied to offtake from the liquefaction plant that will prepare the gas for export.

Trump on Wednesday announced a 10% tariff on most goods imported to the United States, as well as much higher levies on dozens of rivals and allies, including Japan. Nakanishi said that there could be opportunities brought by the tariffs too but the company would carefully evaluate the risks as well.

BOLD INVESTMENT PLAN

On Thursday, Mitsubishi said it planned to invest at least 4 trillion yen ($27 billion) over the next three years to drive growth and aimed to lift its net profit to 1.2 trillion yen in the 2027/2028 financial year.

Unveiling its new three-year management strategy starting this month, Mitsubishi also said it would maintain its basic policy of progressive dividends and flexible share buybacks, including a plan to buy back up to 1 trillion yen of its own shares from April 4 to March 31, 2026.

Over the three-year period, Mitsubishi plans to allocate about 1 trillion yen to sustaining capital expenditure and more than 3 trillion to growth investments.

In a scenario where it had excess cash, the company would evaluate the allocation of those funds to investments or additional shareholder returns after considering its investment pipeline and other factors, it said in a statement.

In February, Mitsubishi, which took a 52.2 billion yen impairment charge on its domestic offshore wind projects in the nine-month period ended in December, forecast a net profit of 950 billion yen for the year that ended March 31.

Nakanishi said that the company hoped to reach a conclusion on its domestic offshore wind projects around this summer, without providing other details.

For the year that began this month, Mitsubishi predicted its net profit would fall to 700 billion yen, but it would boost its dividend by 10 yen to 110 yen per share.

Legendary U.S. investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N is among the largest Mitsubishi shareholders, holding a 9.67% stake.

($1 = 147.4200 yen)