Nissan Earnings Drop 15%

Nissan Motor Co. netted 72.3 billion yen ($925 million) in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 compared to 65 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in the same period of 2011.

Revenue rose 3% to 2.1 trillion yen ($26.9 billion) in the quarter. Worldwide sales rose 15% to 1.2 million vehicles.

Operating income fell 20% to 120.7 billion yen ($1.5 billion). The strong yen cut 25.7 billion ($329 million) from operating results. Higher sales costs, including sales incentives in the U.S. sell aging models, sliced off triple that amount.

Nissan says it remains on track to meet its full-year goals of an operating profit goal of 700 billion yen ($9 billion) and a 10% gain in global sales to 5.4 million vehicles.

The company expects to hit its 8% growth target in China, where its sales outpaced a sluggish market in April-June. But Nissan concedes it may struggle to meet its goal of increasing vehicle sales 1% in Europe, where sales are down industrywide.