Tokyo, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today announced financial results for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005. In the six months through September, Nissan's net income after tax totaled 238.8 billion yen (US $2.17 billion, euro 1.79 billion), an increase of 0.5% compared with last year.
"Many of the external risks we forecast at the beginning of the year have materialized, including higher incentives, commodity prices and interest rates," said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn. "Despite this challenging environment, we still achieved strong results for the first half due to robust sales in the U.S. and continuous improvement in our European operations."
Nissan's net consolidated revenue amounted to 4.008 trillion yen (US $36.5 billion, euro 30.1billion), up 12.7% compared with the same period last year. Operating profit in the first half totaled 403.4 billion yen (US $3.67 billion, euro 3.03 billion), up 0.6 % from the same period a year ago, while the operating profit margin came to 10.1%. Ordinary profit amounted to 401.4 billion yen (US $3.66 billion, euro 3.02 billion), up 2.8%.
Globally, Nissan sold a total of 1,596,000 vehicles in the first half of the fiscal year, an increase of 8.8% compared with last year.
In Japan, sales fell 4.9% to 368,000 units, including mini-vehicles. In the U.S., sales grew 16.6% to 489,000 units. In Europe, sales rose 6.6% to 285,000 units in the same period. Sales in General Overseas Markets advanced 15.2% to 454,000 units, including sales in China of 84,000 units.
Ghosn said Nissan would maintain its forecast for the full fiscal year, despite the volatile and uncertain global environment.
"The business climate in the second half is likely to remain severe as the risks are expected to continue," said Ghosn. "Despite this outlook, we are maintaining our full-year forecast, supported by strong business fundamentals and the release of nine all-new models in key markets around the world."
Nissan forecasts full-year net revenue of 8.176 trillion yen, operating profit of 860 billion yen, ordinary profit of 846 billion yen and net profit of 510 billion yen.
The results for the first half include, for the first time, a 50% proportional consolidation of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., Nissan's joint venture in China, and the full consolidation of Siam Nissan Automobile Co., Ltd., in Thailand and Yulon Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., in Taiwan.
Other FY04 first-half financial highlights
Indebtedness:
Consolidated net automotive indebtedness amounted to 100.2 billion yen (US $913 million, euro 753 million) in the first half, down from 278.1 billion yen on September 30, 2003.
Consolidated net debt for sales financing operations totaled 3.290 trillion yen
(US $29.96 billion, euro 24.72 billion), up from 2.712 trillion yen on September 30, 2003, reflecting the significant sales growth of the company.
Shareholder's equity:
Consolidated shareholder's equity totaled 2.257 trillion yen (US $20.55 billion, euro 16.95 billion), an increase of 233 billion yen compared to 2.024 trillion yen as of March 31, 2004.
Notes: Amounts in dollars and euros are translated for the convenience of the reader at the foreign exchange rates of 109.8 yen/dollar and 133.1 yen/euro, the average rates for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005.
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