Nissan Motor’s Earnings Fall 14%

Profit at Japanese automaker Nissan slipped 14% in its fiscal first quarter compared with the same period a year ago as it wrote down the value of its assets to accommodate new Japanese accounting rules.

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday that group net income for the three months ended June 30 totaled 105.7 billion yen, or $949 million, down from 123.23 billion yen a year earlier. A charge for a new pension plan also eroded Japan’s No. 2 automaker’s earnings, which had otherwise showed solid growth in operating profit.

Sales during the April-to-June period jumped 13% to 2.15 trillion yen, or $19.3 billion, from 1.91 trillion yen a year earlier, the Tokyo-based manufacturer said.

“Nissan achieved robust results last quarter due to brisk sales in the U.S. and Japan, despite a tougher business environment,” said Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn.

Altima sales jumped 29% and sales of the Pathfinder sport utility vehicle nearly doubled in the U.S. In Japan, compact models such as the Tiida as well as larger models such as the Murano SUV supported sales growth.

Before setting up an alliance with Renault of France in 1999, Nissan had been losing money for several years and was on the verge of collapse.

Nissan kept its forecast for a sixth straight year of record profit for the full fiscal year through March 31. Nissan is expecting 517 billion yen ($4.6 billion) in net income on 9 trillion yen ($80.8 billion) in sales.