TOKYO (AP) — Nissan says quarterly profit rose 57 percent, driven by a weaker yen and strong sales in
China and Japan.
The
Japanese automaker reported net profit Monday of 84.3 billion yen ($823
million) for the October-December third quarter. That was up from 53.8
billion yen a year earlier.
It was a sharp improvement from the previous quarter, when profits rose 2 percent. Sales rose 25 percent
to 2.5 trillion yen.
"Sales
in Japan and North America helped offset emerging market volatility and
sluggish conditions in Europe," Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn
said in a statement.
But operating income fell 87 percent in the
highly competitive North American market to just 3.4 billion yen. That
was more than made up for by a 405 percent increase in Japan.
Toyota
and Honda earlier reported strong quarterly earnings, as Japanese
automakers continued to benefit from a weaker yen, which increases the
value of overseas earnings in yen terms.
Nissan’s sales in China,
which slumped in late 2012 after a flare-up in anti-Japanese sentiment,
bounced back sharply, rising 94 percent to 381,000 vehicles.
Sales
in Japan rose 16 percent to 151,000 vehicles, as customers rushed to
buy before an increase in the consumption tax on April 1. The coming
hike from 5 to 8 percent should keep sales strong this quarter, but
Japanese automakers expect a slowdown at home in the following months.
U.S. sales rose 12 percent to 307,000 vehicles, driven by demand for the Altima and Pathfinder.
The
decline in the European market is showing signs of bottoming out,
Corporate Vice President Joji Tagawa told reporters, but challenges
remain in Thailand, Australia and Brazil.
Nissan maintained its forecast of selling 5.2 million vehicles and earning 355 billion yen for the fiscal
year ending March 31.
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