Mitsubishi Motors Corp, which returned to profit in the year just ended, said it expects net income to triple this year as sales abroad increase and it trims costs. Shares of Japan's No. 4 automaker rose for a second day.
The company, 37 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler AG, expects group net income of Japanese yen 38 billion (US$300 million) for the 12 months to March 31, 2003. In the year just ended, profit rebounded to Japanese yen 11.3 billion, or Japanese yen 7.7 a share, from a record loss of Japanese yen 278.1 billion, or Japanese yen 233 a share, a year earlier.
Rolf Eckrodt, who becomes chief executive officer next month, is shutting about a quarter of the automaker's capacity to restore profitability. Investors are looking for proof Mitsubishi Motors can revive sales, especially at home, and not remain reliant on a weaker yen and cost savings to bolster earnings.
"They're focusing on cost cutting but we haven't seen any new attractive models coming out," said Makoto Kikuchi, who helps manage Japanese yen 500 billion at PCA Asset Management Co. "They can't cut their way to growth."
The maker of Lancer cars and eK-wagon minicars predicts sales in Japan will rise 2 percent this year to 477,000 units, snapping six years of declines. Sales abroad will rise 5 percent to 986,000 vehicles, with total revenue increasing 6.3 percent to Japanese yen 3.4 trillion.
Eckrodt said Mitsubishi Motors will release about 10 new vehicles and full-model changes over the next three years in Japan. Eckrodt said worldwide there will be more new releases, declining to elaborate. Rival Nissan Motor Co said last week it will roll out 28 new models worldwide in the next three years.
* Mitsubishi Motors expects group net income of Japanese yen 38 billion (US$300 million) for the 12 months to March 31, 2003.
* In the year just ended, profit rebounded to Japanese yen 11.3 billion, or Japanese yen 7.7 a share, from a record loss of Japanese yen 278.1 billion, or Japanese yen 233 a share, a year earlier.
* The company predicts sales in Japan will rise 2 percent this year to 477,000 units, after six years of declines.
* Sales abroad may rise 5 percent to 986,000 vehicles, with total revenue increasing 6.3 percent to Japanese yen 3.4 trillion.
Mitsubishi Motors shares rose as much as 3.9 percent to Japanese yen 404, rebounding from a 2.3 percent drop earlier in the day. They have risen more than three-quarters since the start of January.
Second-half net income totaled Japanese yen 42.8 billion, compared with a Japanese yen 202.5 billion loss a year earlier. The figure was derived by subtracting first-half results from full-year earnings.
Sales for the year just ended fell 2.3 percent to 3.2 trillion yen, as global unit sales dropped 2.7 percent to 1.4 million. Second-half sales fell 3.8 percent to Japanese yen 1.67 trillion, in part because of lingering customer worries about quality after a string of recalls in 2000 and 2001. Mitsubishi Motors predicts global vehicle sales will rise by 4 percent to 1.46 million units this year.
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