Nissan profits fall on rising costs, forex woes

Tokyo: Japanese automaker Nissan reported a drop in first quarter profits Thursday, under pressure from rising material costs and a higher yen. Nissan said sales were up in China in the three months to June, but fell in North America and Europe. The firm’s quarterly net profit in the period dropped 14.1 per cent to 115.8 billion yen ($1.05 billion). Operating profit was down 28.8 per cent to 109.1 billion yen, with sales also down slightly to 2.7 trillion yen. Unit sales fell in the US, and development costs rose during the quarter, said Joji Tagawa, corporate vice-president.