Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) reported a 28.3% jump in profit to JPY78.2bn ($770m) in the first three quarters, despite the performance of its shipbuilding arm.

Orders received at the Japanese giant's old Shipbuilding and Ocean Development segment rose from JPY50.6bn to JPY126.1bn, but a loss of JPY6.9bn was recorded for the third quarter, up from JPY0.9bn in the same period last year.

Shipbuilding now falls within the group's Commercial Aviation and Transport Systems, which recorded a total loss of JPY12.1bn in Q3, but forecasts a full year profit of JPY20bn.

Total ship orders fell from 5 in the first three quarters of 2012 to 4 so far this financial year, with a backlog of 41, including 10 LNG carriers, seven ferries/passenger and cargo ships and seven patrol vessels. Historically the fourth quarter has seen more orders for the Japanese shipbuilder, with four orders in Q4 2012 alone.

On the back of the third quarter results, MHI revised its sales and profit forecast for the full year up, to JPY3.3tn and JPY150bn respectively.