Thursday November 5, 1:04 AM
Nissan Motor narrows annual loss forecast
Japan's Nissan Motor slashed its full-year net loss forecast Wednesday after returning to profit in the second quarter, helped by rising sales in China and government subsidies for fuel-efficient cars.
Japan's number three automaker, which is axing 20,000 jobs to cope with the global economic crisis, joins rival Honda in upgrading its outlook. At the operating level, Nissan now expects to finish this year in the black.
The company logged a net profit of 25.5 billion yen (282 million dollars) for the fiscal second quarter to September, down 65.3 percent from a year earlier but better than its first-quarter loss of 16.53 billion yen.
Operating profit fell 25.4 percent year-on-year to 83.3 billion yen as revenue dropped 25.9 percent to 1.87 trillion yen, according to a statement from Nissan, in which France's Renault has a 44-percent stake.
"We continue to operate in an environment that is volatile and uncertain," said Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn, who also heads Renault.
"Our performance in the first half of fiscal 2009 is encouraging," he said, but added: "Our outlook will remain cautious until we see evidence that economic recovery can be sustained in world markets."
Nissan cut its net loss forecast for the year to March 2010 to 40 billion yen, from an earlier prediction of 170 billion yen, helped by foreign exchange movements and a better than expected first-half performance.
The previous year it had plunged 233.7 billion yen into the red -- its first annual loss in almost a decade.
It now expects an operating profit of 120 billion yen this year, instead of a deficit of 100 billion yen it predicted in May.
Nissan, which was slower than rivals Toyota and Honda to embrace fuel-efficient petrol-electric hybrids, aims to take a lead in zero-emission cars and plans to launch its first electric car, the Leaf, in late 2010.
For the six months to September, Nissan logged a net profit of 9.0 billion yen, down 92.9 percent from a year earlier.
Operating profit fell by roughly half to 94.9 billion yen as revenue slid 30.5 percent year-on-year to 3.38 trillion yen.
Nissan sold about 1.62 million vehicles in the first-half period, down 14.6 percent compared with last year.
Japanese automakers have taken a heavy blow from the global economic downturn, which has caused sales to plunge.
Yamaha Motor Co. announced a net loss of 158.8 billion yen (1.8 billion dollars) for the nine months to September, against a year-earlier profit of 43.15 billion yen, hit by weak motorcycle sales and a stronger yen.
The bottom line was also battered by a one-off loss of 73.5 billion yen due to restructuring costs such as asset impairment charges and early retirements.
For its full business year through December, Yamaha maintained its forecasts for a net loss of 182 billion yen, an operating loss of 87 billion yen and revenue of 1.1 trillion yen.
Yamaha had been enjoying record sales until the economic crisis hit demand for its products, which also include boat engines and all-terrain vehicles.
Toyota Motor, which suffered its first ever loss in the year to March 2009, announced Wednesday it was quitting Formula One racing to save money during the global economic downturn.
Toyota, which overtook General Motors in 2008 as the world's top selling automaker, has forecast another big loss this year. It is due to announce its interim results on Thursday.
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