High yen stalls profits

Article Excerpt

NISSAN MOTOR (ADR) $20.06 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; ADRs o/s: 2.1 billion; Market cap: $42.1 billion; Dividend yield: 2.9%) is Japan’s second-largest automaker, after Toyota. For the year ended March 31, 2018, Nissan’s revenue rose 2.0%, to 12.0 trillion yen ($108.8 billion U.S.) from $11.7 trillion yen. Even so, earnings were down 13.2%, to 750.3 billion yen ($6.8 billion U.S.) from 864.7 billion yen a year earlier. The main reason was higher costs. Unfavourable exchange-rate movements also hurt earnings. A stronger yen erodes the value of profits earned outside Japan. Still, the company’s outlook is positive. Recently launched new models should help to boost sales. Nissan is still a buy. buy. …