OREANDA-NEWS. July 30, 2012. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) today announced its sales and financial results for the first quarter of the 2012 fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.

1. Performance overview

MMC posted a consolidated net sales of 419.3 billion yen for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 (April 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012), a 3% or 12.6 billion yen decrease over the same period last fiscal year. The decrease was mainly due to the strong yen and other negative factors.

MMC posted an operating profit of 14.9 billion yen, an increase of 22% or 2.7 billion yen over the same period last fiscal year. The increase was made possible mainly due to improvements in the model mix, together with other factors such as reductions in material and other costs.

MMC posted an ordinary profit of 14.2 billion yen, an increase of 38% or 3.9 billion yen over the first quarter of FY2011 and posted a net profit for the term of 20.0 billion yen, an increase of 367% or 15.7 billion yen year-on-year. Reasons for the increase in net profit include gains on the sale of investment securities recorded as extraordinary income.

2. Sales volume

Global retail sales volume in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 totaled 239,000 units, a decrease of 11% or 28,000 units over the same period last fiscal year. Sales volumes by region were as follows:

In Japan, MMC posted a sales volume of 30,000 units, a decrease of 12% or 4,000 units year-on-year. Factors that negatively influenced sales volume were mainly the lack of models in the minicar class that qualify for the government's "eco-car" incentives, and the end of the current model life cycles of the Colt and Outlander core models in the registered vehicle class.

In North America, MMC posted a sales volume of 23,000 units, a decrease of 26% or 8,000 units over the same period last year; mostly due to a drop in sales in the United States of the Eclipse, Eclipse Spyder, and the Endeavor, following the termination of those models' production.

In Europe, MMC posted a sales volume of 46,000 units, a decrease of 28% or 18,000 units over the same period last year. Western Europe's declining overall demand led to a deep drop in sales year-on-year; in addition in Russia, with its solid growth in overall demand, sales failed to set pace with that growth as consumers waited for the coming of the next-generation Outlander, one of MMC's top-selling models in the country.

In Asia and Other Regions, MMC posted a sales volume of 140,000 units, an increase of 1% or 2,000 units over the same period last year. Although sales volume decreased in North Asia as well as the Middle East & Africa regions, the increase was made possible mainly by strong sales in ASEAN bloc countries led by Thailand where the Mirage is showing a strong takeoff since its March release.

3. Revision to Fiscal 2012 forecasts

After examining factors including the financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and the latest market trends, MMC has decided to make the following adjustments to its fiscal 2012 first-half (April 1, 2012 through September 30, 2012) forecasts as well as full-year (April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013) consolidated forecasts, both announced on April 26, 2012.