Despite Being Down 5.4% in Its Final Fiscal Quarter, Nissan Forecasts Growth in the Coming Year
Yesterday Nissan Motor Co. reported a 51% increase in operating profit over the 2002/2003 fiscal year, confirmation of its strong comeback in North America and abroad.
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| Nissan had a net profit gain of 33% for the year ending March 31. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Specifically, the 44.4% Renault owned Japanese automaker announced a 737.23 billion yen ($8.47 billion CAD) operating profit for the year ending March 31, 2003, with sales of 6.829 trillion yen (78.476 billion CAD) yielding a 495.17 billion yen (5.69 billion CAD) net profit, a gain of 33%.
Despite the positive results Nissan expects operating profit growth to slip during the current year by as much 11%, due to a weak American market and the U.S. government's willingness to let its dollar value continue to slide downward.
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| A booming euro won't offset the slipping of the US dollar. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
The only positive forecast is a booming euro, but this will only affect Nissan mildly, as the majority of its export business is in the United States. Nissan will need to continue expanding its market share to make up for the losses.