Mazda zips ahead of forecast

TOKYO - Japanese car-maker Mazda Motor posted a 12 per cent rise in half-year operating profit yesterday as sales of the Mazda3 small car continued to soar. Mazda also lifted its full-year forecast.

Having returned to a growth track after years of losses in the 1990s, Japan's sixth-biggest car-maker is trying to shore up its profit margins by fixing its North American operations, which have long been its Achilles heel. Mazda, one-third owned by Ford, has said it is counting on an aggressive product offensive to expand US sales.

Operating profit for the April-September period came to 48.78 billion ($600 million), better than the average forecast of 45.6 billion in a survey of seven brokerages by Reuters Estimates.

Net profit climbed 66 per cent to 31.09 billion as revenue rose 2.4 per cent to 1.35 trillion.

Thanks to brisk sales and big cost cuts, Mazda is projecting the strongest profit growth among Japan's top car brands this year.

Second-ranked Nissan and third-ranked Honda reported weaker-than-expected profits, hit by a fierce price war in the United States, although analysts say fundamentals at Japanese auto-makers remain sound.

For the year to next March, Mazda boosted its forecast for operating profit to a record 95 billion from 90 billion, although it kept its net profit forecast of 55 billion unchanged.

Shares in Mazda were up 1.6 per cent on the news. They have climbed 34 per cent in the six months to the end of September.

- REUTERS