Record profits for Nissan

THE rewards of massive restructuring at the Japanese Nissan Motor group continued to grow last year as profits rose almost 70% to a new record, according to estimates made by the company today.

Operating profits for the year to end-March, to be officially released later this month, will be 490bn yen (£2.6bn), and the company expects an acceleration to 553bn yen in the current year.

In a big turnaround in Europe, Nissan made profits of 3bn yen against a 27bn yen loss last year, and the company expects sales in the region to rise almost 3% to 501,000 vehicles in the current year. That makes Nissan, which has a huge plant in Sunderland, the first major Japanese carmaker to return to profit in Europe.

The results will be seen as another accolade for the bold reform policies of president Carlos Ghosn, who was appointed by French car giant Renault, which took a stake in Japan's third-largest motor manufacturer three years ago and now has 44%. Nissan said today it now planned to raise its stake in Renault from 13.5% to 15%, boosting the French group's shares by almost 4% in Paris.

Today's estimates from the company were well above consensus forecasts of operating profits of 375bn yen last year, and 367bn yen in the current year.

Under Ghosn's revival plan, Nissan has been honing and streamlining its 21 production plants around the world, which include factories in Britain, the US, Spain and Mexico. The effects of the cost-cutting operation were bolstered by lower debt levels and buoyant car sales in the US.