Nissan net income up 26.6%

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd today announced financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2007, ending March 31, 2008, as well as for the first nine months.

In the third quarter, consolidated net income after tax came to 132.2bn Yen (€835,205), up 26.6% compared with the same period a year ago.

The improvement in net income reflects the success of recent product introductions, strong sales in the General Overseas Markets (GOM) and a favourable tax position.

Net revenue rose 18.2% to 2.7701 trillion Yen (€17.01bn). Nissan's operating profit totalled 211.9bn yen (€1.30bn), up 15.8%.

The operating profit margin came to 7.7%. Ordinary profit amounted to 201.6bn Yen (€1.24bn), up 13.8%.

"Despite the headwinds that affect our industry, Nissan has benefited from the success of the new products launched during the past 12 months," said Nissan President and CEO, Carlos Ghosn.

"Although the market outlook remains volatile for the coming months, Nissan is focused and on track to deliver our full year objectives," continued Ghosn.

Nissan sold a total of 898,000 vehicles worldwide in the October-to-December 2007 period, up 13.0%.

In the April-to-December 2007 period, net income after tax totalled 344.6bn Yen (€2.12bn), down 9.0% compared with the previous year.

Net revenue rose 13.9% to 7.8346 trillion Yen (€48.10bn). Operating profit totalled 579.1bn Yen (€3.56bn), up 8.9%.

Operating profit margin came to 7.4%. Ordinary profit amounted to 561.9bn Yen (€3.45bn), up 4.4%.

Globally, Nissan sold a total of 2,714,000 vehicles in the first nine months, up 8.4% compared with last year.

In the first nine months of 2007, Nissan has launched nine all-new models: Livina, X-Trail, Altima coupe, Atlas F24, Aprio, Infiniti G37 coupe, Rogue, GT-R and Infiniti EX. During the fourth quarter of 2007, two more products are being introduced: the Murano and Frontier Navara Single Cab pickup.

Nissan's forecast for the full fiscal year is unchanged at an operating profit of 800bn Yen (€5.41bn) and net income of 480bn Yen (€3.24bn).