Tokyo, Apr 25: Japan's fifth-ranked Automaker Mazda today cut its profit forecast for the recently ended year to march due to a new tax law but said the introduction of new models would continue to drive strong earnings growth. Mazda's net profit for the past financial year was expected to be down 9.1 percent from an earlier forecast at 24.1 billion yen (200 million dollars) but the revised figure was still 173 percent higher than the previous year. Mazda Motor Corp. blamed the profit downgrade on a new tax law which removes a loophole in accounting rules that enables firms to bolster balance sheets by including deferred tax assets. But the firm's recurring profit forecast was raised 13.1 percent to 40.7 billion yen and expected revenue was up 1.0 percent at 2.36 trillion yen. "Our continued focus on the basics of the business -- strong product development, cost reduction efforts and a commitment to quality and customer satisfaction -- has kept our growth plans on track," said Mazda president and chief executive Lewis Booth.
"While we still must improve in North America, our results in Europe, Japan and other markets are very encouraging, particularly in the second half of the financial year," he said in a statement.
"This is why I believe sustained, profitable growth is achievable -- we expect operating profits for financial year 2003 to be the best in ten years." Bureau Report