Nissan’s profit growth ‘to stall this year’
TOKYO: Nissan warned on Thursday that profit growth would stall this year after its latest annual net profit rose more than a quarter to $5.82 billion, largely due to the sale of its stake in an auto parts supplier.
The downbeat forecast comes a day after Japanese rival Toyota posted its first drop in annual net profit for five years, as a forecasted pick-up in the yen and pricey customer incentives in the US market dent its bottom line.
Altima sedan maker Nissan posted a net profit of 663.5 billion yen ($5.82 billion) in the fiscal year to March, up nearly 27 percent from a year earlier.
The jump was driven by gains from the sale of its non-controlling ownership stake in Calsonic Kansei, which makes vehicle interiors, climate control systems, compressors, exhaust systems and electronics.
Also on Thursday, Nissan said its latest operating profit fell 6.4 percent while revenue edged down 3.9 percent to 11.72 trillion yen, blaming on a stronger yen. For the current year to March 2018, Nissan said net profit would fall 19.4 percent to 535 billion yen. Operating profit and revenue are on track to decline 7.7 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, it said.
Nissan sold more cars globally in the latest period — 5.63 million — with a rise in most major markets including North America, Europe and China. Sales in its home market were down.
In February, longtime Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn announced he was stepping down from the chief executive post to focus on overhauling scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors, but would remain chairman.
Ghosn, who also heads up French automaker Renault, handed over the reins to Nissan veteran Hiroto Saikawa in April.
“Nissan is seeing a strong performance in North America and China, the world’s two major markets,” Satoru Takada, an analyst at TIW, said before the earnings report. “I don’t think Ghosn’s retreat will have a big impact as he is still overseeing the company as its chairman,” Takada said.