Nissan Motor Co. faced a barrage of criticism at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on Tuesday after reporting its first quarterly net loss in 11 years and cutting its earnings forecast last week.

As shareholders approved the appointment to the board of Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida as well as Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta at the meeting, they demanded the management quickly improve the company's battered earnings following the ouster of Carlos Ghosn as chairman.

"You are just making losses on slowing sales with an aged product portfolio. What are your plans for new models?" a shareholder questioned the management during the meeting.

Nissan on Thursday reported a group net loss of 26.09 billion yen ($237 million) for the October-December quarter, a sharp drop from a profit of 70.41 billion yen a year earlier.

It slashed its net profit outlook for the year ending March to 65 billion yen, the lowest since fiscal 2008 when the global financial crisis hit, while deciding to forego a year-end dividend payment for the first time since fiscal 2009, leaving its annual payout at 10 yen, down from 57 yen last fiscal year.

"If you are going to reduce the dividend by that much, you have to cut executive compensation. You should immediately accept this proposal," another shareholder said.

Uchida apologized for the dividend decision, saying Nissan has to "focus on investing in structural reform and for future growth" rather than on increasing dividends.

The company will need "a little more time to recover profits and returns to shareholders," the CEO said, adding the company will consider including the proposal in a revised medium-term business plan to be outlined in May.

A shareholder complained about Nissan's stock performance, as its share price has more than halved from above 1,000 yen since Ghosn's arrest in November 2018.

"The share price is really falling and we are very anxious," she said.

Nissan is suffering from faltering global vehicle sales amid a dearth of new models and has made little progress on new projects in its alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. since the dismissal of Ghosn.

A new coronavirus outbreak in China is also pressuring its earnings, with production at most of its factories in its largest single market suspended.

It was the second extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the current fiscal year, as the company sought approval for its partially reformed board of directors after Hiroto Saikawa resigned as CEO in September for receiving excessive remuneration.

The first meeting in April removed Ghosn from the board after his arrest for alleged financial misconduct at Nissan.

Ghosn, who was awaiting trial in Japan, skipped bail and fled to Lebanon in late December. As Japan does not have an extradition treaty with Lebanon, Ghosn is unlikely to return to Japan.

Uchida said Ghosn's escape was "regrettable" and "a stunning turn of events," adding that the company will continue "to take appropriate legal action" to secure compensation for the damage allegedly caused by the former chairman.

The company earlier this month filed a 10 billion yen damages suit against Ghosn over "his corrupt practices," including private use of company jets and use of company residential properties overseas without the payment of rent, saying the size of the damages sought was expected to increase.

Uchida assumed the CEO post on Dec. 1. He faces the daunting task of improving performance while grappling with a slowdown in global demand and the high costs of shifting to electrified, connected and self-driving vehicles.

Nissan has no option but to strengthen ties with Renault and promote joint development of cars and investment cooperation for next-generation technologies to survive the challenging market environment, analysts say.

But tensions have often run high between the two companies over the leadership of their alliance.

Renault, which has a 43.4 percent stake in Nissan, has sought a merger, an idea rejected by the Japanese automaker, which fears its autonomy would be undermined. Nissan holds a 15 percent non-voting stake in its French peer.

One shareholder suggested that Nissan depart from the alliance and pursue quicker decision-making and improved efficiency on its own. But Uchida rejected the idea, saying "there is no talk whatsoever of (reviewing) the current capital structure (with Renault) at this moment."

"As each of the alliance members are seeing profits and sales falling, we are focused on how to benefit more from the partnership," Uchida said.

At the latest meeting attended by 666 shareholders, Executive Vice President Hideyuki Sakamoto and Pierre Fleuriot, lead independent director at Renault, were also approved to join the board.

The company said the same day that Saikawa and former Chief Operating Officer Yasuhiro Yamauchi had resigned as directors. Thierry Bollore, who was dismissed from Renault as chief executive, stepped down from the Nissan board last November.

Nissan's board now consists of 12 members including seven outside directors, two each from Nissan and Renault as well as Gupta, former COO of Mitsubishi Motors.

==Kyodo

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