Marubeni expects Chinese approval for Gavilon deal by end-March

TOKYO Feb 1 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp expects to get Chinese regulatory approval for its $5.6 billion purchase of U.S. grain merchant Gavilon by the end of March, the company's Chief Financial Officer Yukihiko Matsumura said on Friday.

Matsumura also said at the earnings briefing he expects Marubeni to meet its forecast for net profit of 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) for the year to March 31.

The company said in a statement net profit for the nine months through December came to 152.45 billion yen, an increase of 7.9 percent from the year-earlier period.