Nissan More Than Doubles Earnings

Nissan Motor Co. posted net income of 75.3 billion yen ($945 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31 compared with 30.8 billion yen ($386 million) in the same period of 2011. Operating profit jumped 33% to 118.1 billion yen ($1.5 billion).

Revenue climbed 15% to 2.7 trillion yen ($34 billion) in the January-March period. Sales grew 21% to 1.4 million vehicles. Nissan says strong worldwide volume more than offset the negative impact of the strong yen.

For the full fiscal year, net earnings increased 7% to 341.4 billion yen ($4.3 billion). Revenue advanced 17% to 9.4 trillion yen ($117.9 billion). Sales rose 16% to a record 4.8 million vehicles, outpacing the 4% growth of the global auto market.

Nissan's worldwide market share rose 0.6 points to 6.4%. The company aims to boost its global share to 8% by the fiscal year ending in March 2017.

Operating profit edged up 2% to 545.8 billion yen ($6.8 billion), compared with declines of 60% at Honda and 24% at Toyota. Nissan out-earned its domestic rivals for the first time in 20 years, partly because it restored its supply chain and production more quickly after last year's natural disasters in Japan and Thailand.

By region, the company's full-year sales jumped 22% to 1.2 million vehicles in China, 12% to 1.1 million units in the U.S. and 18% to 713,000 units across Europe, including Russia. Domestic sales rose 9% to 655,000 vehicles. Volume climbed 16% to 826,000 units in other markets.

In the current fiscal year, Nissan expects to boost net profit 17% to 400 billion yen ($5 billion) and operating income 28% to 700 billion yen ($8.8 billion). The company predicts sales will climb 10% to 10.3 trillion yen ($129 billion) on a 10% volume gain to 5.4 million vehicles. Nissan aims to increase sales 8% to 1.4 million units in China this year.