Nissan swings back into black in FY 2009, presents upbeat outlook+

YOKOHAMA, May 12 Kyodo -
Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it swung back into the black in fiscal 2009
thanks to cost-cutting measures and robust sales in China and presented an
upbeat outlook for the current business year, providing the latest evidence of
a recovery among Japanese automakers.
For the financial year through March, Japan's third-largest automaker reported
a group net profit of 42.39 billion yen, a turnaround from a loss of 233.71
billion yen in the previous year and beating the company's projection in
February of a net profit of 35 billion yen.
It also posted a better-than-expected operating profit of 311.61 billion yen,
compared with a loss of 137.92 billion yen, on sales of 7.52 trillion yen, down
10.9 percent.
''Though we are still operating in crisis mode, we are well on track toward
complete recovery'' thanks to the impact of cost-reduction measures and a
significant increase in sales in China, President Carlos Ghosn said at a press
conference.
With further growth in China and a recovery in the U.S. market in sight, Nissan
is forecasting for fiscal 2010 ending next March a group net profit of 150
billion yen, 3.5 times larger than the fiscal 2009 profit, and an operating
profit of 350 billion yen, up 12.3 percent, on sales of 8.2 trillion yen, up
9.1 percent.
Japan's other top automakers -- Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Mitsubishi
Motors Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. -- have also projected increased profits in
the current financial year for similar reasons.
''We know the worst of the crisis is behind us and our plan of action is to
emerge from the crisis completely in this fiscal year,'' Ghosn said.
In fiscal 2009, Nissan sold 3.52 million vehicles worldwide, up 3 percent from
the previous year, due to incentives to boost auto sales implemented in various
countries and the growing clout of emerging markets especially China, where
Nissan's sales jumped 38.7 percent to 756,000 units.
Sales in Japan rose 2.9 percent to 630,000 units thanks to government
incentives for eco-friendly cars, but sales in the European and U.S. markets
fell.
Despite risks such as a strong yen and increasing raw material prices that
Nissan may face in fiscal 2010, the Yokohama-based firm is counting on its new
lineup for fiscal 2010 including the launch of its Leaf electric vehicle in
Japan, the United States and Europe in December and its new fuel-efficient
Micra compact car, known as the March in Japan, to lift its earnings
performance.
The Nissan chief said 130,000 consumers in the United States had already
registered their interest in buying the Leaf.
The automaker is also banking on China's continued growth to be a key driver of
its good earnings performance, with Ghosn saying Nissan will be equipped to
annually produce more than 1 million cars in the country in 2012.
Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga also expressed hope for synergy effects
from a cross-sharing agreement signed in April with Germany's Daimler AG by
Nissan and its alliance partner Renault SA of France.
According to Nissan, the alliance with Renault will generate synergy effects of
over 240 billion yen in the 2010 calendar year, while the deal with Daimler is
expected to generate a net value of at least 2 billion euros for the alliance.
For the current fiscal year, the automaker projected global sales to rise by
8.1 percent to a record 3.80 million units in fiscal 2010 and global production
in the fiscal year to reach 3.75 million units, up 14.2 percent.
==Kyodo
2010-05-12 22:52:41


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