Nissan warns of $2.3 billion full-year loss, challenges ahead
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Nissan shares tumbled as much as 6.1 per cent in early Tokyo trading on Oct 31, the biggest decline on an intraday basis since Aug 26.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO – Nissan Motor shares fell the most in two months after the embattled carmaker forecast a 275 billion yen (S$2.3 billion) operating loss in 2025 as it pushes ahead with a cost-cutting spree to rescue its deteriorating financial position.
The outlook is the Japanese manufacturer’s first for the fiscal year ending in March 2026, after it previously withheld profit guidance. It estimates a 30 billion yen loss for the April-September period, a better outcome than its previous forecast that it would lose 180 billion yen.
“Nissan continues to face challenges exacerbated by external headwinds,” chief financial officer Jeremie Papin told reporters on Oct 30.
The shares tumbled as much as 6.1 per cent in early Tokyo trading on Oct 31, the biggest decline on an intraday basis since Aug 26. The stock is down around 27 per cent in 2025.
Nissan is facing its worst financial crisis in more than two decades, when it was rescued from near bankruptcy by French carmaker Renault. The struggling company has faced cratering profits and a mountain of debt, after a revolving-door leadership and weak product line-up were compounded by weak sales in the United States and China.
Chief executive Ivan Espinosa pledged earlier in 2025 to cut 20,000 jobs and reduce Nissan’s global manufacturing operations
A major part of Mr Espinosa’s plan is to rein in excess capacity. This includes shifting production in Mexico from the Civac plant to its Aguascalientes complex by the end of the fiscal year, and ending output at its flagship domestic factory in Oppama by March 2028.
The second-quarter loss is smaller than previously forecast due to one-time costs and other factors, rather than dramatic improvements at Nissan, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. “It’s unclear whether progress will happen as planned.”
The company declined to share its restructuring costs or full-year outlooks for profit or net losses. Details will be announced on Nov 6 alongside its financial results, Mr Papin said. BLOOMBERG
