Nissan posts 40% rise in profits

Nissan Motor Corporation, Japan’s second biggest carmaker, has posted a rise of 37.4% in net income for the six months ending in September.

The firm also revised its full-year to March 2016 forecast for global car sales to 5.5 million vehicles, an increase of 3.4% from the previous year. Net income for the September half came to 325.6bn yen ($2.7bn; £1.74bn).

The company said sales had been given a boost by demand from North America and Europe, together with a weaker yen, meaning goods made by Japanese exporters less expensive overseas.

Despite the slowdown in China, Nissan said its sales of passenger vehicles there rose by 9.5% for the period.

However, the firm noted ‘declining market conditions’ in Japan, as well as several emerging markets.

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan said, ‘Nissan has delivered solid revenue growth and improved profitability in the first half of the fiscal year, driven by encouraging demand for our vehicles in North America and a rebound in western Europe, which compensated for market volatility elsewhere.’

The firm said it sold 2.62 million vehicles globally during the six months, marking a 1.3% rise year-on-year.

Japanese rivals Honda and Toyota will also be reporting their earnings this week.