Nissan Motors Reports 4.5 Percent Increase in Profit in 2Q on Sales of New Car Models

TOKYO July 29,2004; The AP reported that Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second biggest automaker, reported a 4.5 percent increase in second-quarter profit on Thursday, crediting surging sales of new car models launched last year.

The Tokyo-based Nissan, second in Japan only to Toyota Motor Co., posted a net profit of 123.2 billion yen ($1.11 billion) for the April-June quarter, up from 117.89 billion yen a year earlier.

Group operating profit for the company, which is staging a comeback under a five year alliance with Renault SA, increased 5.8 percent to 186.32 billion yen ($1.67 billion) in the quarter from 176.06 billion yen a year ago.

For the April-June quarter, Nissan's group sales totaled 1.9 trillion yen ($17 billion), up 15 percent from 1.7 trillion in the same period a year earlier, lifted by firmer demand for its cars in Japan as well as stronger sales in North America and Europe.

Worldwide, Nissan sold a total of 769,000 vehicles in the first quarter of the fiscal year, an increase of 9.9 percent compared with last year, building on new products launched in the second half of fiscal year 2003.

Nissan's product launches for the rest of this fiscal year include four new models in the United States and six in Japan.

Nissan has forecast full fiscal year net revenue of 8.2 trillion yen, operating profit of 860 billion yen and net profit of 510 billion yen.