Mazda Motor was back in profit in the April to June fiscal first quarter, citing the yen’s depreciation as well as strong sales of new models.
Group net profit of JPY5.46bn followed a loss of JPY6.46bn, a year earlier. Consolidated operating profit jumped more than 20-fold to JPY36.52bn on sales of JPY615.85bn, up 21.6%, Kyodo News reported.
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The automaker sold 301,000 vehicles globally in the three-month period, up 1,000.
Despite the results, the company left unchanged its consolidated earnings projection, citing uncertainty over the outlook for emerging economies.
For the entire year to March, it is expecting its net profit to rise 104.1% to JPY70bn and operating profit to gain 122.5% to JPY120bn on sales of JPY2.48 trillion, up 12.5%.
In North America, Mazda sold 95,000 vehicles in the three-month period, up 6%. Its sales also were up in Europe where the economy has been slowing, selling 46,000 vehicles, up 4%, due to strong sales of the CX-5 and 6 in Germany and Britain.
But sales fell around 20% in China to 37,000 vehicles amid strained economic ties between Japan and China amid a bilateral territorial dispute.
Mazda said it would not pay dividends for fiscal 2013.
