Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it expects to return to the black for the first time in three years in fiscal 2021 through March with a net profit of 60 billion yen ($546 million), helped by sweeping restructuring and a recovery in auto demand.

The projection is a reversal from the 60 billion yen net loss forecast earlier and comes despite a global shortage of semiconductors and surging raw material costs that threaten to cut into profitability.

The Japanese carmaker expects an operating profit of 150 billion yen on sales of 9.75 trillion yen, up 24.0 percent from a year earlier and revised from 9.1 trillion yen projected in May.

Returning to profitability and finding a growth path is a priority for Nissan, following former Chairman Carlos Ghosn's ousting over his alleged financial misconduct at the company.

Nissan also needs to step up investment to keep up with global rivals in shifting more to electrified vehicles.

Speaking at a press briefing, CEO Makoto Uchida said restructuring has been progressing at Nisan, which reported strong first-quarter earnings.

"Reflecting the first-quarter results despite the issue of semiconductor (shortage), we have decided to make revisions to the outlook," Uchida said, adding that a sales recovery in North America is strong.

For the April-June quarter, Nissan also returned to the black with a net profit of 114.53 billion yen. Operating profit came to 75.68 billion yen as sales grew 71.0 percent to 2.01 trillion yen.

The Yokohama-based company maintained its global sales target of 4.4 million vehicles.

Automakers have seen a pick-up in auto demand after taking a hit from the coronavirus pandemic last year, although the global chip shortage has weighed on the industry.

==Kyodo

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