Nissan Sees Another Loss; Focus on Saving Cash

Japan's Nissan Motors lost $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter as car sales slumped globally, and forecast another loss for the current year as it puts product launches and growth plans on hold to conserve cash.

For January-March, Nissan, which is 44 percent-owned by Renault, made an operating loss of 230.4 billion yen, about 15 percent less than an estimate for a 270 billion yen loss in a survey of 18 analysts by Thomson Reuters.

It made a profit of 212 billion yen a year earlier.

The maker of the Altima sedan and Murano SUV lost a net 276.9 billion yen in its fourth quarter, swinging from a year-ago profit of 138 billion yen.

For the year to next March, Nissan forecast an operating loss of 100 billion yen, less than a consensus forecast for a 239 billion yen loss. It expects a full-year net loss of 170 billion yen.

Nissan urgently needs to offer new cars to compete with domestic rivals Toyota Motor and Honda Motor , but a global sales slide and lack of funding have forced it to delay manufacturing projects and model launches.

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of both Nissan and France's Renault, has said the partners' top priority this year was to generate cash and break down barriers to cooperating more closely in a tough competitive environment.

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Nissan shares have risen 61 percent so far this year against a 40 percent gain on Tokyo's transport sub-index. Ahead of the results on Tuesday, the stock closed down 1 percent at 510 yen.

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