Nissan’s Income Jumps 27% as Revenue, Operating Profit Slide

Nissan Motor Co. operating profit in the fiscal year ended March 31 declined 6% to 742 billion yen ($6.5 billion), but net income surged 27% to 664 billion yen ($5.8 billion).

New CEO Hiroto Siakawa says the company’s vehicle sales advanced to 5.63 million units from 5.42 million in the previous 12-month period. But revenue shrank 4% to 11.7 trillion yen ($103 billion) because of unfavorable exchange rates. When currency factors are ignored, revenue gained 6%.

In January-March, Nissan’s revenue rose 6% to 3.5 trillion yen ($30 billion) and operating profit grew 16% to 239 billion yen ($2.1 billion). Net income in the final quarter jumped 27% to 664 billion yen ($5.8 billion) on the sale of the company’s Calsonic Kansei components business.

Nissan says its annual sales and marketing costs climbed to 259 billion ($2.3 billion). The increased was caused in part by increased spending on retail incentives. The company’s global market share for the year slipped to 6.1% from 6.2%.

The carmaker offers a muted outlook for the 12-month period that began April 1. Nissan expects its unit sales will rise 4% to 5.83 million vehicles, and its operating profit will grow less than 1% to 685 billion yen. But the company cautions that its net income is likely to fall 19% to 535 billion yen.

The company’s new six-year plan, to be unveiled in detail later this year, will aim to elevate revenue to 16.5 trillion yen and increase global market share to 8.0%. CEO Siakawa says he is banking on the Chinese market to lead most of Nissan’s growth.