Nissan Motor lowers sales, profit forecasts after weak quarter – update

By Kosaku Narioka

Nissan Motor lowered its full-year forecasts for vehicle sales and profit after reporting a sharp decline in first-quarter net profit.

The Japanese automaker said Thursday that net profit fell 73% from a year earlier to 28.56 billion yen, or $185.6 million, for the three months ended in June. That missed estimates of 98.87 billion yen by analysts surveyed by data provider Quick.

First-quarter revenue rose 2.8% to 2.998 trillion yen.

Nissan said higher selling and marketing costs weighed on net profit.

For the year ending March 2025, net profit is forecast to decline 30% to Y300.00 billion, down from a previous forecast of an 11% decline. Nissan now forecasts global sales to rise 6.0% to 3.65 million units, down from a previous forecast of 3.7 million units.

The automaker forecast sales in China would fall 3.0% to 770,000 units this fiscal year, down from a previous forecast of 0.8% growth. The lowered guidance followed a 24% drop in sales in China the previous year due to intense competition and a shift of consumers away from conventional gas-powered vehicles.

The carmaker changed its global strategy after restructuring its alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors last year.

Nissan and Honda Motor said in March they would explore opportunities to cooperate on electric vehicles, their core components and software.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 25, 2024, 02:32 ET (06:32 GMT)