Nissan also slashed its full-year forecast to an 11-year low and cut its interim dividend by 65 percent after experiencing the worst second-quarter performance in 15 years, according to Reuters.
Nissan is looking forward to a new generation of executives taking over the reins of the troubled company on December 1 – A year after the ouster and arrest on November 19, 2018, of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn. With Ghosn out, the company saw global sales drop, along with consumer confidence.
Hiroto Saikawa, Ghosn’s successor, stepped down in September. Another Nissan veteran, Makoto Uchida, was named as Saikawa’s successor, effective Dec. 1, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Nissan shares, down 19 percent this year, closed up 1 percent at 714.5 yen before the results announcement. Operating profit at Japan’s second-biggest automaker by sales came in at 30 billion yen ($275 million) in July-September versus 101.2 billion yen a year earlier.
That figure averaged out to a mean forecast of 47.48 billion yen from nine analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv. The interim dividend came to 10 yen a share, down from 28.50 yen a year ago.
Nissan’s global sales fell 7.5 percent to 1.27 million in the quarter, while sales in China, its biggest market, fell 2.5 percent. Sales in the U.S. dropped 4.5 percent.
“Our sales in China outpaced the market, but sales in other key regions, including the U.S., Europe, and Japan underperformed,” Stephen Ma, a corporate vice president who will become chief financial officer next month, told reporters.
After opening at 12.30, Nissan shares as of 10:00 a.m. on November 12 are 12.43-0.52 (-4.02%).
