Cost cutting drives Nissan to record

THE firm hand of Carlos Ghosn steered profits of Japanese car giant Nissan to a record in the six months to September. A vigorous round of cost-cutting helped operating profits jump 41% to 188.78bn yen (£1.08bn), while earnings per share rose from 43 yen to 58 yen.

Ghosn, who has been hailed as the saviour of the once-ailing firm, also forecast that full-year profits would be up by 21%. This would have been even higher but the company is still waiting to see the effect on car sales of the 11 September attacks in the US.

Nissan, which is 37% owned by the French Renault group, achieved the record results for the third consecutive period despite a fall in output. In the first six months of the year global production was down 10%.

European sales, hit by a lack of attractive new models, were even harder hit. Production in Britain slumped 13% and sales were down 24% year-on-year in September.

The company now forecasts that the slowdown in sales will ease as new models come on stream and older names are phased out, but still warned of a decline of about 2% in annual sales. Ahead of the results, Nissan shares shot up by more than 5% on the Tokyo stock market.