I am Masumi Kakinoki, CEO of Marubeni Corporation. Thank you for being here today. I will begin with an overview of Marubeni's consolidated results for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2021, which were released on November 4, and the full-year forecast. Then CFO Takayuki Furuya will talk about our new investments and divestment, as well as profit by segment.
First, consolidated results for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2021. Please refer to pages 1 and 2 of the materials. Net profit for the first half was JPY 101.7 billion, down JPY 10.1 billion, or 9%, from the same period last year. Adjusted net profit, excluding one-time items from net profit, was JPY 105 billion, a decrease of JPY 18 billion, or 15%.
Breaking down the JPY 18 billion decrease in adjusted net profit, the main factors were a JPY 3 billion decrease in non-resources, primarily aerospace and ship, construction, industrial machinery and mobility, and forest products, and a JPY 17 billion decrease in resources, largely due to a drop in coal prices.
The JPY 7 billion improvement in one-time losses from a loss of JPY 11 billion to a loss of JPY 4 billion mainly reflected the non-recurrence of an impairment loss in oil and gas E&P in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, recognized in the same period of the previous year. There were no significant one-time losses in the first half of the current fiscal year.
Core operating cash flow was positive JPY 182.6 billion, which was essentially unchanged from last year, and free cash flow after delivery of shareholder returns was positive JPY 6.7 billion with an increase of JPY 29.2 billion compared to the same period last year.
The net D/E ratio was 1.10 times, an improvement of 0.06 points from the end of the previous fiscal year, partly due to the increase in equity as net profit grew more than the initial forecast at the beginning of the period.
Our target of approximately 1.10 times at the end of the current fiscal year was achieved ahead of schedule. The forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2021 is net profit of JPY 150 billion and adjusted net profit of JPY 170 billion.
Both are upward revisions of JPY 50 billion, given that net profit for the first half has already exceeded the initial full-year forecast of JPY 100 billion. In our operating environment, as shown at the bottom of slide 1, we are expecting only a modest recovery in the second half because it remains unclear when the COVID-19 pandemic will end.
Along with the upward revision in the net profit forecast, we have raised our initial forecast for core operating cash flow by JPY 70 billion to positive JPY 310 billion. The forecast for free cash flow after delivery of shareholder returns remains at positive JPY 140 billion. As I mentioned, the net D/E ratio target of 1.10 times at the end of the current fiscal year was achieved at the end of the first half.
Finally, the dividend for this fiscal year. Along with the upward revision of the net profit forecast, we calculated the consolidated payout ratio at 25% of the net profit forecast of JPY 150 billion, which comes to an annual dividend of JPY 22 per share, an increase of JPY 7 from the initial forecast of JPY 15 per share. This JPY 22 is set as the minimum annual dividend for this fiscal year.
The interim dividend has been resolved at JPY 11 per share, an increase of JPY 3.5 from the JPY 7.5 announced at the beginning of the fiscal year. The planned year-end dividend is JPY 11 per share, the same as the interim dividend. Next, I want to talk about the impact of COVID-19 on our earnings structure.
Please refer to page 3. Here, we compare the breakdown of first-half adjusted net profit with the same period in the previous fiscal year. First, A, stable earnings-type businesses and lifeline-related businesses increased JPY 5 billion from the previous year to JPY 51 billion.
Stable earnings-type businesses, including IPP with PPA in the power business and the water and gas infrastructure business, contributed to earnings despite the COVID-19 situation, and earnings increased in lifeline-related businesses, which are businesses essential to daily life, such as agriculture and food-related businesses.
Next, in B, trade business, first-half earnings were unchanged from the previous year at JPY 26 billion. The profit decline in businesses such as steel products and forest products was offset by an increase in chemicals trading, which captured profit opportunities and sales of domestic real estate, so profits stayed at the level of the first half last year.
In C, businesses compositely affected by influence of COVID-19, including commodity prices, profit was JPY 29 billion, a decrease of JPY 26 billion from the first half of last year. Transportation-related businesses, which include aerospace and ship and construction, industrial machinery, and mobility, recorded a JPY 9 billion profit decrease.
In natural resource investments, profit declined by JPY 17 billion, mainly due to a drop in commodity prices, primarily coal. Page 4. Here we compare the revised full-year forecast for adjusted net profit with the initial forecast.
First, in A, stable earnings type businesses and lifeline-related businesses, we are projecting profit of JPY 88 billion, which is up JPY 5 billion from the initial forecast. This is mainly because the performance of agriculture and food-related businesses has been strong in comparison to the initial forecast.
Next, in B, trade business, we have increased our forecast by JPY 11 billion- JPY 36 billion. We are expecting a profit increase driven by profitability improvement in chemicals and other trade businesses. In C, businesses compositely affected by influence of COVID-19, including commodity prices, the forecast is JPY 49 billion, an increase of JPY 39 billion compared with the initial forecast.
Breaking this down, while we project a profit decrease in the finance and leasing business, we are forecasting an increase of JPY 15 billion on the faster than expected improvement in the automotive-related and other businesses in construction, industrial machinery and mobility, and the strong first half performance of Creekstone Farms, a beef processing and sales business in the U.S.
In addition, we forecast a JPY 24 billion profit increase in natural resource investments, which include iron ore, oil and gas E&P, and copper, mainly because of higher resource prices. That concludes the overview of first half results and the full-year forecast. Now CFO Furuya will talk about new investments and divestment and profit by segment.
I am CFO Takayuki Furuya. Let me begin with new investments in divestment. Please refer to page 8. Total of new investments in CapEx for the first half came to JPY 162.9 billion, and divestment was JPY 42.5 billion.
In new investments, mainly in distribution business, we invested in Santher, a hygiene products manufacturer in Brazil, in the first quarter, and also concentrated on expanding existing businesses where Marubeni has strengths, including the container board and instant coffee manufacturing and sales businesses in Vietnam, and an additional investment in Creekstone Farms in the U.S.
In CapEx, we also allocated funds to carefully selected projects that will help to strengthen existing businesses, including Helena in the U.S. Note that in CapEx and others, the rate of progress toward the full-year forecast is high, but these numbers include JPY 34 billion in loans to agricultural producers at Helena. The full-year forecast is for new investments of JPY 150 billion, CapEx and others at JPY 120 billion, and divestment of JPY 100 billion.
Compared to our initial forecast, CapEx and others has increased by JPY 20 billion. This is due to greater allocation of capital to existing businesses where we have strengths, taking into account changes in the business environment due to the pandemic. Now, page 10. I will talk about adjusted net profit for the first half, focusing on segments that had significant year-on-year changes.
Please refer to the bottom graph. First, segments where profit increased. Food showed an increase of JPY 6 billion to JPY 17 billion, mainly due to Creekstone Farms, a beef processing and sales business in the U.S., posting strong results in the first quarter. Chemicals increased JPY 5 billion to JPY 8 billion, mainly driven by improved profit in trading of petrochemical products centered on olefins. Next, segments where profit decreased.
Metals and mineral resources profit decreased JPY 17 billion- JPY 19 billion, mainly due to the decline in coal prices affecting the Australian coal business. Aerospace and ship profit fell by JPY 5 billion- JPY 3 billion.
The main factors were weak sales of aircraft parts due to the impact of COVID-19 and lower profit in ship-related business, reflecting a decline in revenue from vessel operations. Construction, industrial machinery, and mobility profit fell by JPY 4 billion- JPY 5 billion due to profit declines in construction machinery, industrial equipment, and tire and rubber material-related businesses as a result of lockdowns and other restrictions on activity due to COVID-19.
Forest products profit fell by JPY 3 billion- JPY 1 billion, due in part to lower profits at the Musi Pulp project in Indonesia because of declining pulp market prices. Moving on to page 11. I will cover the profit forecast by segment.
Again, looking at the bottom graph showing adjusted net profit and focusing on segments with significant changes from the initial forecast. First, segments with profit forecast increases. In energy, the profit forecast is JPY 6 billion, an increase of JPY 16 billion from the initial forecast because we raised our crude oil price assumptions.
In food, the forecast is JPY 28 billion, an increase of JPY 10 billion from the initial forecast. This reflects increased profit in livestock-related businesses such as Creekstone Farms, which performed well in the first half, and in grain and food products businesses. In metals and mineral resources, the forecast is JPY 35 billion, an increase of JPY 9 billion from the initial forecast. This is due to rising iron ore and copper prices, although coal prices have declined.
In construction, industrial machinery, and mobility, although conditions remain challenging due to the impact of COVID-19, we are forecasting profit of JPY 10 billion, an increase of JPY 7 billion from the initial forecast, because automotive-related businesses and others have improved faster than expected.
In chemicals, the forecast is JPY 12 billion, an increase of JPY 5 billion due to strong performance in trading of petrochemical products. Next, segments with profit forecast decreases. In the finance and leasing business, the forecast is JPY 8 billion, a decrease of JPY 4 billion from the initial forecast.
Although the automotive sales financing business in the U.S. is performing well, in the aircraft leasing business in the U.S., conditions in the aviation industry remain worse than anticipated. That concludes my presentation.
Now I, Kakinoki, want to talk about the progress of the revised medium-term management strategy, GC2021. Please see page 13. We announced the revision of GC2021 in May 2020 to reflect the net loss in the previous fiscal year and the worsening business environment caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. In the GC2021 revision, we set two basic management policies in light of the challenging business environment.
The first is to rebuild and strengthen the financial foundation. We will prioritize repayment of interest-bearing debt by maximizing free cash flow after delivery of shareholder returns and have set the quantitative goal of improving the net D/E ratio to approximately 1.0 times by the end of March 2022. The net D/E ratio target of approximately 1.1 times by the end of this fiscal year was achieved ahead of schedule at the end of the first half, and we are on track to reach our March 2022 target.
We will continue to place top priority on rebuilding and strengthening our financial foundation by focusing on cash flow management. The second policy is enhancement of business strategies. We expect the impact of COVID-19 on the real economy to be prolonged, so we will focus even more on fortifying existing businesses, including cost reduction measures, and work to establish a sustainable and resilient business foundation.
In addition, we will proactively recycle assets and enhance the value of assets while envisaging changes in the business environment, and we will further enhance and strengthen risk management practices in order to increase medium to long-term corporate value. With the whole Marubeni Group focused on cutting expenses, we significantly reduced costs in the first half of this fiscal year by around JPY 22 billion, or about 8% compared with the same period last year.
Regarding efforts to recycle and enhance the value of assets, in Horizons One and Two, we continue to allocate capital mainly to existing business where we have strengths. In Horizon 3, we steadily made carefully selected investments in new business areas where future growth is expected. Our divestment already totals JPY 43 billion in the first half, and we are on track to achieve the divestment target of JPY 100 billion for this fiscal year.
To further enhance and strengthen risk management, we analyzed the performance of past businesses and investments and shared the lessons of those we withdrew from with all employees.
Based on those lessons, we are improving our investment framework to strengthen investment discipline and reviewing our risk asset management policy to improve risk-return characteristics.
By improving and optimizing capital efficiency and the risk-return profile, we will continue to pursue improvement of ROE as well as enhancement of medium to long-term corporate value. That wraps up the summary of the progress of GC2021. In the first half of this fiscal year, the businesses where we have strengths demonstrated those strengths even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, the efforts and contributions of all Marubeni Group employees led to the upward revision of net profit targets. On the other hand, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb with no sign of abatement, especially in Europe and the U.S.
So ensuring the safety of group employees and our customers and partners around the world will remain our first priority as we steadily work to strengthen our financial and earnings foundations. Thank you for your attention.