Nissan returns to profit despite chip shortages

TOKYO – Japanese automaker Nissan returned to profitability in the last fiscal year for the first time in three years, despite challenges such as supply shortages caused by the pandemic and soaring costs.

Nissan Motor Co. reported Thursday a net profit of $1.7 billion for the fiscal year through March, a reversal from the $3.5 billion loss recorded the previous fiscal year.

Annual sales rose 7% to $65 billion.

In the January-March quarter, Nissan posted a profit of $110 million. It recorded an $632 million loss in the same period the year before.

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said semiconductor supply shortages will remain a challenge in coming months.

Higher raw materials prices, the impact of lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine were also reasons for concern, according to Nissan.

But Uchida said he was confident about being able to “ensure Nissan remains a truly healthy and resilient company that in any business environment can be financially stable and profitable.”

Nissan, allied with Renault SA of France, is projecting a profit of $1.2 billion for the fiscal year through March 2023.

Nissan plans to sell 4 million vehicles around the world, up 3% from nearly 3.9 million vehicles sold the previous year, with healthier sales in Japan and North America. The company’s sales in China would be little changed, but they would decline in Europe, since Nissan’s operations in Russia and Ukraine have been suspended.

The company’s Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta said Nissan has streamlined its product lineup to focus on what he called “core models” to boost profitability.

“We are transforming ourselves,” he said. The Yokohama-based maker of the Leaf electric car, Infiniti luxury models and March subcompact is proceeding to the next level of growth, said Gupta.

Nissan’s reputation was tarnished by a high-profile scandal of its former star executive Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested on financial misconduct charges in 2018. He jumped bail and fled Japan. He is now in Lebanon, the nation of his ancestry.

Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, has insisted on his innocence, arguing he was a victim of an internal corporate coup led by misguided officials.

EUGENE HOSHIKO/AP Japanese automaker Nissan reported a net profit of $1.7 billion for the fiscal year through March, a reversal from the $3.5 billion loss recorded the previous fiscal year.