Mitsubishi Motors to Revise Annual Earnings Forecast

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the Japanese maker of Lancer sedans, will revise its earnings forecast for the year ending March 31 as the global recession saps car demand and a stronger yen squeezes profits.

Mitsubishi Motors will review forecasts based on sales performance in December and the effects of some cost-cutting measures that are in place now, spokesman Fumio Nishizaki said today by phone. The revision will be made by the time the company announces its third-quarter results, which is usually around the end of January.

The carmaker will join Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., Japan's two largest automakers, in changing profit goals as auto sales plummet worldwide. The yen's 23 percent gain against the dollar this year also cuts the repatriated value of Japanese companies' overseas sales.

Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors in October predicted net income to fall 42 percent to 20 billion yen ($220 million) for the year. The plan to revise the earnings forecasts was reported by the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper, which cited an interview with President Osamu Masuko.

Mitsubishi Motors was unchanged at 121 yen at the close of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange today. The shares have declined 36 percent this year.

Toyota on Dec. 22 predicted it will post an operating loss of 150 billion yen in the year ending March 31, reversing a previous estimate of a 600 billion yen profit. Honda on Dec. 17 slashed its full-year profit forecast by 62 percent.

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