Nissan cuts profit outlook over costs related to scandal

Nissan Motor Co. on Wednesday lowered its full-year profit projection for the business year through next March, owing to costs associated with a decades-long scandal involving the automaker using uncertified staff to carry out final safety checks on its cars.

The Yokohama-based automaker lowered its group operating profit from an earlier estimate of 685 billion yen (6.01 billion U.S. dollars) for the year to March 2018, to 645 billion yen (5.66 billion U.S. dollars), with its net profit outlook set at 535 billion yen.

Nissan's profit outlook, based on an expected uptick of sales netting 11.8 trillion yen, the equivalent of a 0.7 percent increase compared to a year earlier, is down more than 19 percent from the last business year.

For the fiscal first-half through September, meanwhile, the embattled automaker said its operating profit tanked 17 percent from a year earlier to 281.83 billion yen.

The hefty drop was owing in part to the automaker's recall of some 1.2 million vehicles after the inspection scandal came to light.

Losses were also incurred due to legal expenses connected to Takata Corp. and its faulty air bag inflators, which have led to some fatalities and affected a number of prominent global automakers including Nissan.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)