YOKOHAMA, Nov. 4, 2009 (Kyodo News International) --
(Editors: RECASTING, ADDING DETAILS. 2ND LEAD TO FOLLOW)
Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it expects to return to the black for the current business year through March with a group operating profit of 120 billion yen due to strong sales in China and some recovery in demand from government stimulus measure worldwide.
Nissan expects to strongly beat its earlier estimate of a 100 billion yen operating loss in the current year and swing back into profitability from the 137.92 billion yen loss booked a year earlier due also to aggressive cost-cutting efforts.
Japan's third-largest automaker also trimmed its group net loss forecast to 40 billion yen from an earlier projected loss of 170 billion yen on sales of 7 trillion yen, against the previous forecast of 6.95 trillion yen.
Nissan joins a string of other Japanese automakers like Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:HMC) and Mazda Motor Corp. (OOTC:MZDAY) in lifting their annual earnings outlook, helped in part by strength in emerging markets including China.
The company, which is 44 percent owned by France's Renault SA, also raised its global sales target for fiscal 2009 to 3.3 million units from an earlier 3.08 million units, though down 3.3 percent from a year earlier.
For the April to September period, Nissan saw demand decline heavily in key markets like North America and Europe but sales in China jumped 19.3 percent from a year earlier to 332,000 units. For the full year, it plans to sell 712,000 units in China, up 30.6 percent.
To meet demand for affordable cars, Nissan said it will begin production of a global compact car in Thailand from next March followed by production in India and China.
In the first six months of the current business year, Nissan booked a group net profit of 9.0 billion yen, down 92.9 percent from a year earlier. Its operating profit dropped 50.5 percent to 94.88 billion yen on sales of 3.38 trillion yen, down 30.5 percent.
For the July to September quarter, Nissan returned to the black with a group net profit of 25.53 billion yen following three consecutive quarters of red-ink figures.
Last week, Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker, nearly tripled its group net profit forecast for the business year to 155 billion yen, against an earlier projection of 55 billion yen and up 13.1 percent from a year earlier.
Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to announce its first-half earnings results on Thursday.
