Nissan's three-month profit up 36% on sales in US, China

Nissan on Wednesday said net profit for the three months to June soared 36.3 percent to $1.3 billion on strong sales in North America and key market China.

Japan's number-two automaker said its quarterly net profit reached 152.8 billion yen ($1.3 billion), while operating profit jumped 58.0 percent to 193.7 billion yen.

Sales jumped 17.6 percent to 2.90 trillion yen in the period.

Robust demand in foreign markets and the benefit of a sharply weaker yen drove up the firm's performance, said Carlos Ghosn, president and chief executive officer.

"Nissan delivered solid financial results in the first three months of the fiscal year due primarily to strong demand for our core products in North America and Europe," he said in a statement.

"Given our ongoing product offensives, the benefits of our alliance strategy (with Renault) and continued cost discipline, Nissan is on track to deliver its full-year financial guidance," he said.

The firm maintained its annual forecasts for a net profit of 485.0 billion yen, operating profit of 675.0 billion yen and sales of 12.10 trillion yen.

Japanese automakers have benefited significantly from the healthy growth seen in the US market with low interest rates, while the weaker yen has made them relatively more competitive overseas and inflated the value of repatriated overseas profits.

Sales slowed in their home market, however, after a sales tax rise last year dented consumer spending and as younger urban residents delayed buying a vehicle.

Unit sales in Japan fell 10 percent in the quarter, while European sales rose 10.7 percent and North American sales rose 8.9 percent.

Unit sales in China, the world's biggest vehicle market, jumped 11.3 percent.

Nissan said it was preparing to launch new models, including the Titan pick-up truck in the US and the Lannia sedan in China, later this fiscal year to maintain the momentum.

The company expects to sell 5.55 million units globally this fiscal year, up 4.4 percent and accounting for a global market share of 6.5 percent.

Takaki Nakanishi, auto analyst at Nakanishi Research Institute in Tokyo, said a weak yen was benefiting the Japanese auto sector as a whole.

"Nissan is enjoying growing sales in North America while the weak yen helped boost its exports, which has offset a negative impact of currency declines in emerging economies," he said.