Nissan profits miss estimates

Nissan, Japan's second-biggest carmaker, reported third-quarter profit that fell short of analysts' estimates, after sales tumbled in China and new models trailed competitors in the US.

Net income dropped 35 per cent to 54.1 billion yen (€433 million) in the three months ended December 31, from 82.7 billion yen a year earlier, the Yokohama, Japan-based company said in a statement today.

Nissan kept its full-year earnings forecasts unchanged.

The results illustrate how the territorial dispute between China and Japan is overshadowing the benefits from a weaker yen for Nissan chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn, who has repeatedly called for further yen depreciation.

The automaker was also hurt after sales of the new Altima, its bestseller in the US, trailed the Camry and Honda's Accord.

"Nissan has a big exposure in China and was hit hard by the protests," said Kota Yuzawa, analyst at Goldman Sachs.

"In the US, unfortunately because of the incentives war, the sales volume of new models is lower than the company's expectation and my expectation."

Nissan shares fell 0.6 per cent to close at 987 yen in Tokyo before the earnings announcement.

The stock has gained 22 per cent this year, compared with the 7.3 per cent rise in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.

Nissan kept its average exchange-rate assumptions for the fiscal year at 79.7 yen to the dollar and 101.8 yen to the euro.

Nissan gains about 20 billion yen in operating profit with every one-yen drop against the dollar, according to the company.

Bloomberg