Nissan profit falls 27%

[ronald mcretard]

Nissan profit falls 27%

One-time expenses and higher taxes offset higher sales as Japanese auto maker invests in emerging markets and new technology.

October 26 2007: 5:51 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) -- Nissan reported on Friday a 27 percent decline in profit for the July-September quarter on one-time expenses and higher taxes that eroded overall sales growth and improved earnings in core auto operations.
Profit at Nissan Motor Co. for the fiscal second quarter totaled ¥120.1 billion($1.05 billion), down from ¥164 billion the previous year.

Sales at Japan's No. 3 automaker surged 13 percent on year to ¥2.618 trillion ($22.9 billion), as sales grew in the U.S., Europe, Russia and China. Nissan sold 941,000 vehicles worldwide, up 6.6 percent compared with a year ago.

Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the company is coming out of a lull to start its next stage of growth as it expands in emerging markets and launches models, and better results can be expected soon.

Continued at link... http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/26/news...ce=yahoo_quote

[megeebee]

Ouch.

Still, at least they HAD a profit.

[Psionic Wibbly]

probably still more than what GM will report, i bet

[GMCSonoma]

Originally Posted by Psionic Wibbly

probably still more than what GM will report, i bet

[rueben44]

LMAO!!!^^^^^^
This is really not bad new it is just investment lost it is not like they had lost for other reasons plus the still had a huge profit.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Psionic Wibbly

probably still more than what GM will report, i bet

Toyota hasn't yet reported their Japanese first-half results for FY2008 (first half ended Sept 30th). I would bet they're solidly in the black though...

At Honda, profit is up 38.1% over the same period last year.

These two are Detroit's main competitors in the US and more profit for them can (will) translate into more R&D, better products, and more generous incentives if need be.

While Nissan's poor results are somewhat good news, Detroit isn't out of the woods. If pointing out a few facts qualifies as trolling, feel free to post that picture again.

[PocoToro]

At least GM's "profits" have been on an up swing..............

[MrMax]

Originally Posted by PocoToro

At least GM's "profits" have been on an up swing..............

I've got lemons. Who wants lemonade?

[69Firebird400]

Actually, it's mostly a paper loss only. I was puzzled to see this headline here, because I remembered seeing one on Automotive News that said Nissan's profit grew. So I investigated...

It is accurate to say that Nissan's profit fell 27%. When you read the Automotive News article (which has the headline "Nissan surprises with quarterly results"), it turns out that its operating profit climbed. Here's the first part of the AutoNews article in case anyone's interested:

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co. posted a surprise gain of 12 percent in quarterly operating profit on Friday as a pickup in its global car sales outweighed rising commodity prices, and it kept its full-year forecasts unchanged.

Nissan, Japan's third-biggest automaker held 44 percent by Renault SA, had been expected to suffer a fall in core profits on weak domestic sales and as demand for the Titan pickup and other high-margin light trucks shrank in its biggest market, the United States, due to heated competition and expensive fuel.

But driven by solid sales of smaller cars in the United States and in emerging markets, such as the Middle East and Mexico, Nissan's global sales grew 6.6 percent to 941,000 vehicles for the July-September second quarter. Revenue rose 13 percent to 2.618 trillion yen ($22.9 billion) -- above market expectations.

"This is very good -- much better than expected," Credit Suisse auto analyst Koji Endo said.

"Provided that the U.S. subprime problem and currency rates aren't going to be bad, I believe we may be able to add expectations of a revision."

Second-quarter operating profit was 218.71 billion yen ($1.91 billion), beating an average estimate of 183.5 billion yen in a survey of four brokerages by Reuters Estimates. That lifted its profit margin back to the year-ago level of 8.4 percent, and above 6.1 percent in the first quarter.

Net profit slid 27 percent to 120.11 billion yen from the year before, when it booked extraordinary gains from the sale of shares in its truck affiliate and had a lower tax rate.

The results, which came after market hours in Tokyo, pushed Renault's shares up 3.4 percent in Paris.

So it's year-ago results were boosted by one-time gains, making the comparison difficult. All automakers that I can think of, including GM, report "adjusted" earnings before one-time items, so this is not actually bad news for Nissan, as witnessed by its stock going up today.

Funny how AutoNews had a more positive spin on the results, while the CNN Money ones were much more negative. The tide further turning against the Japanese Big Three, perhaps?

Automotive News link: http://autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar.../1128&refsect=

[montrealvue]

...awesome, now I can really low ball 'em on the Versa my wife wants

[97CamaroSS]

[quote=ronald mcretard]Nissan profit falls 27%

Give 'em a Good Ol' American Union and see where their profits go. The demise of American industry...Outdated, unnecessary, and useless Unions. Thanks UAW (Mafia, Democrats!) Ha Ha.

[Robert Ryan]

LMAO!!!^^^^^^
This is really not bad new it is just investment lost it is not like they had lost for other reasons plus the still had a huge profit.

Nissan is not just Nissan, they are part of Renault, both made profits last year and are to release 11 new models.

[DuallyMan]

Nissan-Renault is cross-owned. At the end of the day, they are still much independent.

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

Nissan is not just Nissan, they are part of Renault, both made profits last year and are to release 11 new models.

[Bravada]

44.3% of Nissan is owned by Renault, the highest percentage currently owned by a foreign automaker in a Japanese one. It is more than Ford had to acquire to completely control Mazda. Sure, Nissan also owns 15% of Renault's stock, but there's no doubt about who is the controlling part. How else would Ghosn end up there?

And I agree from what I read that Nissan is actually doing better and better - operating profit is what matter the most. The Tiida/Versa became a surprise hit (I still don't quite understand why) and they are still going strong or at least holding their own on most fronts.

[regfootball]

Ghosn is a maniac.