Major truck maker Nissan Diesel Motor Co. said Wednesday that its group net balance fell into the red in the first six months of fiscal 2002 because it had to set aside large provisions for sales credits that may become uncollectible due to the anemic economy.
The group net loss for the first half to Sept. 30 came to 4.57 billion yen, a turnaround from the 226 million yen profit posted in the same period the previous year.
Group pretax profit for the period fell 11.1 percent to 1.52 billion yen on a 1.3 percent fall in sales to 184.14 billion yen.
For the year to March 31, 2003, Nissan Diesel projected a group net loss of 4 billion yen, compared with a profit of 610 million yen the year before, because demand for the firm's relatively large trucks -- its mainline product -- is likely to remain weak due to the gloomy economic outlook.
Group pretax profit for the full year will likely come to 4 billion yen, down from 5.04 billion yen, on projected sales of 370 billion yen, a whisker lower than the previous year's 371.72 billion yen.