Mazda Motor plunged to a US$330m net loss in the fiscal first quarter ended 30 June after production and sales were hit by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.
The net loss was JPY25.5bn versus a JPY2.1bn net loss in Q1 2010/11.
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The operating loss was JPY23.1bn after an operating profit of JPY6.4bn a year earlier. Sales fell 29.4% to JPY408.1bn, AFP reported.
Mazda had been enjoying rising sales thanks to government incentive programmes but Q1 global sales volume fell 11.3% year on year to 281,000 vehicles after the quake and tsunami crippled supply chains in northern Japan and led to power shortages that affected factories. Compared to larger Japanese rivals, Mazda has relatively few plants outside Japan.
In Japan, sales volume fell 31.8% to 35,000 units, “mainly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake”, the company said.
North American volume fell 4% to 86,000 vehicles. European sales dropped 18.5% to 44,000 units and Chinese deliveries were flat at 53,000 units.
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By GlobalDataMazda said it expected to “turn around to profitability from the second quarter” and was on course to achieve its annual earnings targets.
For the fiscal year to 31 March 2012, it has forecast net profit of JPY1.0bn and an operating profit of JPY20bn on sales of JPY2.19 trillion.
Executive vice president and CFO Kiyoshi Ozaki told Reuters the results were in line with expectations but warned that Mazda was helpless against the scope of the yen’s recent sharp appreciation.
“The yen’s current strength is beyond what our efforts can offset,” he said.
Last month, Mazda set an assumed dollar rate of JPY83 and a euro rate of JPY113 for the 2011/12 fiscal year but the currencies are now trading around JPY77.5 and JPY110.8, respectively, threatening deeper losses, the news agency noted.
A JPY10 fall in the dollar shaved JPY3.1bn from first quarter profit.
