NISSAN DENIES ‘15PC OUTPUT CUT’ REPORT
Carmaker lodges protest with Nikkei over ‘completely incorrect’ details in its coverage
NISSAN Motor Co denied a report by the Nikkei that it’s planning to cut global output by around 15 per cent for the fiscal year to March next year, even as the carmaker struggles to reignite earnings and sales while dealing with the fallout from the arrest of ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Nissan issued a rare response calling the details in the report “completely incorrect”, saying that it lodged a protest with the newspaper over its coverage.
The Japanese carmaker was seeking to produce 4.6 million units, the lowest in nine years,
according to the newspaper.
Following the statement, Nissan shares recovered some of their earlier losses to close 2.2 per cent lower, here. The stock declined 22 per cent last year.
Ghosn, who was arrested for the first time in November, is being detained in a jail, here, on allegations of misusing Nissan’s money for personal gain. He has denied the allegations as well as formal charges accusing him of falsifying financial information and breach of trust.
Toshihide Kinoshita, an analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc, wrote in a report that the figures, though unverified, suggested production levels well below his projections, and that the negative impact on annual operating profit could be 150 billion to 200 billion yen (RM5.37 billion to RM7.43 billion), although that didn’t take into account any efforts by Nissan to cut costs or reduce inventory.
IHS Markit is predicting a decline, but not as steep; the researcher projects sales will drop 6.3 per cent to 5.3 million units this year.
In February, Nissan slashed its operating profit forecast to 450 billion yen, to well below analysts’ estimates as sales in China and the United States sputter.
Nissan is expected to report earnings results on May 14, giving investors a look into its performance as the entire industry faces complex issues such as the United Kingdom’s potentially jarring exit from the European Union and huge investments in electric and autonomous vehicles.