Nissan fourth-quarter profit rises; outlook poor

Nissan Motor Co.'s January-March profit rose 67 percent to 137.6 billion yen (US$1.3 billion; euro840 million) from 82.2 billion yen the same period the previous year.

Those figures included one-time "fifth-quarter" numbers from overseas subsidiaries that were added to the previous year's fourth quarter to make the cutoff for fiscal years the same globally.

Without those numbers, Nissan said, the profit surge calculated to a 95 percent increase.

Nissan expects profit for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, though, to plunge 30 percent on year to 340 billion yen (US$3.3 billion; euro2.1 billion) because of unfavorable currency swings, rising material costs and higher oil prices.

"There is no way we can overcome these headwinds," Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters at Nissan's Tokyo headquarters.

Ghosn brushed off fears that Nissan car sales may be slumping, even in the problematic credit-crunch-plagued U.S. market.

The sales were just fine, he said, and the profit dip merely reflects currency fluctuations that erode the yen value of Nissan's overseas earnings.

Nissan's sales recently rose 3 percent in North America while the region's overall auto market declined by about the same rate, Ghosn said.

"In a challenging and volatile environment, Nissan demonstrated that it has reached the maturity to deliver a high level of performance," said Ghosn, who also heads Nissan's French partner Renault SA.