TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese trading houses from Mitsubishi ( MSBHF ) to Sumitomo Corp ( SSUMF ) promised healthy shareholder returns this year amid cautious profit forecasts, trying to keep investors, including Warren Buffett, happy amid U.S. tariff uncertainty.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) is a large minority shareholder in Mitsubishi ( MSBHF ), Mitsui ( MITSF ), Sumitomo ( SSUMF ), Itochu ( ITOCF ) and Marubeni ( MARUF ). It has been recently raising stakes in the companies which trade everything from gas to food.

Mitsubishi ( MSBHF ) expects net profit for the year ending next March to fall 26% due to the absence of one-off gains from asset sales it enjoyed last fiscal year. But it still plans to increase its dividend by 10 yen to 110 yen ($0.76) per share and to continue with its 1 trillion yen share repurchase programme, it said on Friday.

Chief Executive Officer Katsuya Nakanishi told a briefing he believes that his company has gained trust from Buffet, citing the recent increase of Berkshire Hathaway's ( BRK/A ) stake in Mitsubishi ( MSBHF ).

"We understand that he (Buffet) has placed trust in our strategy and management approach," Nakanishi said on Friday.

Itochu ( ITOCF ), which targets net profit to hit another record high this year of 900 billion yen thanks to non-resource businesses, plans to continue with a shareholder payout ratio of 50% and will spend 150 billion yen to buy back up to 2% of its own shares.

Both Marubeni ( MARUF ) and Sumitomo ( SSUMF ) set aside loss buffers of 30 billion yen and 40 billion yen, respectively, for the possible negative impact from U.S. tariffs which Japan is trying to avert.

Marubeni ( MARUF ) plans shareholder distributions of 210 billion yen as it aims for a shareholder return ratio of around 40%, and will buy back up to 4.2% of its shares worth 70 billion yen, it said on Friday.

Sumitomo ( SSUMF ) plans to increase its annual dividend to 140 yen for the year ending next March, from 130 yen now, and to buy back up to 2.9% of its shares worth 80 billion yen, it said on Thursday.

($1 = 145.1800 yen)