Japan's Mitsubishi Motors tips net profit up 28pc

TOKYO: Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors on Monday said it expected net profit to rise 28 percent in the current fiscal year as it looks to make up for lost output following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The automaker delayed giving a forecast as it assessed the impact of the disasters, which left more than 23,000 dead or missing, hammered Japanese production and disrupted supplies of key components.

Already struggling with a strong yen making domestic production more expensive and eroding overseas earnings, Japanese carmakers were hit hard.

Mitsubishi joined its peers in slowing production amid a shortage of parts, but the automaker said it hopes to increase sales in the current year in North America, Asia and Europe.

Despite forecasting a 10 billion yen ($62 million) loss for the first half, the automaker forecast a net profit of 20 billion yen for the year to March 2012, compared with 15.62 billion yen the year before.

The carmaker expects global sales to rise nine percent from the previous year to 1.075 million vehicles.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011