Nissan Motor Co. raised its annual operating profit outlook, a promising sign the automaker is still on track to climb out of the red this year despite parts shortages that have hammered production.
The Japanese carmaker raised its forecast to an operating profit of ¥180 billion ($1.6 billion) for the fiscal year through March, from ¥150 billion announced in July. Analysts are projecting, on average, ¥159 billion. For the July-September quarter Nissan reported an operating profit of ¥63 billion, compared with the ¥1.7 billion loss predicted by analysts.
The upbeat forecast comes despite Nissan having to trim production in recent months in response to an outbreak of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia that disrupted its access to chips and other key parts. Resilient demand for cars coupled with a weaker yen are bolstering some Japanese automakers’ profitability and Nissan’s new outlook underscores confidence from the carmaker that these upside factors will continue to offset issues with its supply chain.