(Associated Press) - Nissan Motor Co., which drew the limelight earlier this year for discussing a possible alliance with General Motors, said Thursday that profit rose 31 percent to in the July-September quarter, thanks partly to special gains that offset sliding sales.
Net income surged to 164 billion yen ($1.38 billion) in the period from 125 billion yen a year earlier, the Japanese automaker said In a release. But sales slid 0.9 percent to 2.324 trillion yen ($19.5 billion).
The number of vehicles sold in the company's second fiscal quarter dropped 7.6 percent to 883,000 units as Nissan struggled to win customers with a fleet of aging model offerings.
The company also warned that risks to future earnings include toughening global competition, spiraling commodity prices and high energy prices, reports Trend.
Nissan's earnings were buoyed in part by special gains such as the sale of Nissan Diesel Motor Co. shares, favorable pension benefits from its China operations and tax benefits generated from its domestic dealership restructuring.
"As forecasted, a combination of external headwinds and a lack of new product resulted in a lower level of performance in the first six months," Nissan President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said in a statement.
In the first six months of the fiscal year, net income rose 19 percent to 274.2 billion ($2.3 billion), from 230.7 billion yen. First-half sales rose 1 percent to 1.534 trillion yen ($39.1 billion).