Japan's Mazda Motor today reported a third-quarter loss of almost $1 billion, as the strength of the yen dented its export-dependent production.
Mazda, Japan's fifth-largest car maker by volume, incurred a net loss of 72.97 billion yen ($958m) in the three months to December, much larger than the 2.67 billion yen loss reported a year earlier.
At the operating level the company fell into a loss of 32.64 billion yen in the quarter, from a profit of 1.05 billion yen in the corresponding period. Sales fell from 560.24 billion yen to 459.14 billion yen.
For the nine months to December, the car maker posted a net loss of 112.84 billion yen, falling into the red from a net profit of 2.85 billion yen a year earlier, as it suffered a 17.4% decline in sales to 1.42 trillion yen.
The yen is at near-record highs against the dollar and the company, which exports about 80% of the vehicles it builds in Japan, said the currency's strength had "created a drag" for the whole economy.
Mazda lowered its forecast for the full year to March to a net loss of 100 billion yen from a previous prediction of a 19 billion yen deficit. The company also revised down its unit sales forecast by 14% in Europe and 1.8% in total, citing European financial instability and smaller production volumes due to the floods in Thailand.
