Nissan shares drop on reports of cut to earnings outlook
Carmaker had downgraded profit forecast in February on weak US sales
Nissan shares slid on Wednesday after Japanese media reported that the carmaker would announce a substantial cut to its earnings outlook.
Shares in the Japanese carmaker fell 3.6 per cent after TV Tokyo and Nikkei reported that Nissan would cut earnings estimates for the fiscal year to March 2019 following weak sales in North America.
The company had already cut its earnings outlook once this year, saying in February that it expected a net profit of ¥410bn ($3.7bn) for that period, down from the ¥500bn it projected in November 2018. It also cut sales targets in all its key markets, including Japan, China, Europe and the US.
Nissan declined to comment.
Nissan is wrestling with the fallout from Carlos Ghosn’s ouster. The former chairman had led the group for two decades, before he was arrested in November 2018 on charges that he understated his pay. He was formally ejected from the company in a shareholder vote in April, but maintains his innocence.
Hiroto Saikawa, Nissan’s chief executive, has sought to stop the decline in US profitability that was blamed on aggressive pursuit of market share under Ghosn’s leadership.