TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co. said Friday its group net profit in fiscal 2023 soared 92.3 pct from the previous year to 426.6 billion yen, backed by unit vehicle sales growth in major markets excluding China and the yen’s depreciation.

In the year that ended in March, the Japanese automaker saw consolidated sales rise 19.7 pct to a new all-time high of 12,685.7 billion yen, with group operating profit jumping 50.8 pct to 568.7 billion yen.

Unit sales increased 23.3 pct in North America, 17.2 pct in Europe and 6.5 pct in Japan. In China, however, stiff price competition forced Nissan to suffer a 24.1 pct sales plunge.

“Despite a tough market environment, earnings improved steadily,” Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida told an online press conference.

For the current year, Nissan projects consolidated sales to increase 7.2 pct to 13.6 trillion yen on a 5.5 pct larger operating profit of 600 billion yen, believing that demand will grow further chiefly in North America.

On the other hand, the company forecasts that its net profit will shrink 10.9 pct to 380 billion yen as earnings are likely to be eroded by progress on inflation abroad.

In the news conference, Uchida also said Nissan will report to the Fair Trade Commission by June measures to prevent itself from unfairly cutting payments to subcontractors anymore in line with the antimonopoly watchdog’s advisory in March.

JIJI Press