Mazda, reporting a smaller-than-predicted loss for the first half of the 2009-10 financial year, said it plans to raise as much as JPY96bn (US$1.1bn) to improve its financial stability and fund the development of less polluting cars.
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The company said in a filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange it would sell up to 363m new and some 99m existing shares to raise the money. The sale will be handled by Goldman Sachs, Nomura Holdings and Daiwa Securities.
Mazda posted a preliminary first-half net loss of JPY26bn, compared with a forecast JPY50bn. It also narrowed its full-year loss forecast to JPY26bn from JPY50bn. It said its performance had been helped by government incentives that stimulated car demand and a weaker yen/euro exchange rate.
It now expects to sell 1,155,000 cars globally in the current fiscal year; up from 1.1m forecast earlier.
Mazda’s sales dropped 26% in the US and 23% in Japan year-on-year to September and were 21% down in Europe to the end of August. But the UK has been a bright spot with the company recording record sales for a single month of 11,372 cars, an increase of 8.3% or 900 units over the previous record month set in March 2008. The UK was Mazda’s largest European market in September.
The Ford affiliate last week announced it will unveil a new line of more fuel-efficient petrol and diesel engines plus a new automatic transmission at the Tokyo motor show later this month.
