Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s second-biggest carmaker, climbed the most in more than three months in Tokyo trading after raising its profit forecast on gains in U.S. deliveries and lower raw-material costs.

The carmaker rose 3.8 percent to 1,104.5 yen in Tokyo trading, the biggest gain since Oct. 31. Japan’s benchmark Topix index gained 0.2 percent. Net income will probably be 420 billion yen ($3.5 billion) in the year ending March, the carmaker said yesterday, 3.7 percent more than its previous forecast and the highest in seven years.

Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn is counting on the U.S. to buffer the effect of a recession in Russia and slowing growth in Japan and China. Nissan boosted sales in the U.S. by 11 percent to a record last year and outsold Honda Motor Co. last month for the first time since March 2014.

Nissan’s third-quarter results were “higher than the market expected,” Kota Yuzawa, a Tokyo-based analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., wrote in a report dated Feb. 9. “Given ongoing concerns about Russia, we believe the guidance increase reflects management’s confidence in its earnings outlook.”

Nissan also raised its projections for full-year operating profit, citing lower prices of raw materials such as steel. The company also cut its global delivery target by 150,000 vehicles to 5.3 million