Hard-pressed Japanese auto maker Mitsubishi Motors Corp posted a big quarterly loss on Monday and widened its full-year net loss projection even as it aims to tame a sales plunge with its newly launched compact car. Japan's only unprofitable car maker is struggling to rebuild itself after former majority owner DaimlerChrysler AG gave up on it in April, after which a second defect cover-up scandal in four years led customers to flee its brand.
Backed by $4.5 billion in aid from investment funds and sister companies in the Mitsubishi group, MMC came up with a sweeping restructuring plan in May, only to rewrite it a month later as its operations deteriorated faster than it had expected.
For the July-September term, MMC posted a net loss of 91.47 billion yen ($868.1 million), much worse than the 29.08 billion yen a year earlier as it booked special losses to streamline its domestic assembly plants and pay for free vehicle inspection services and restructuring steps in Australia.
Earnings were also hit by losses at unlisted truck affiliate Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp and the cost of issuing new shares for the financial aid package.
Second-quarter revenues fell 14 percent to 513.21 billion yen as sales contracted in all regions except Europe.
Its operating loss came to 31.74 billion yen, better than the 34.05 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period, when it wrote down huge losses from loan defaults in North America.
MMC widened its net loss forecast by 10 billion yen to 240 billion for the year to next March. It warned it could book "a considerable amount" of valuation losses by next business year as it shrinks its excess output capacity further and reduces utilisation at its affiliated manufacturing and sales companies.
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