Mazda sees operating profit falling 25% this fiscal year

[TOKYO] Mazda Motor Corp said it expects its operating profit to fall 25 per cent in the current fiscal year due to the impact of a stronger yen and a slowdown in China and other emerging economies.

The Japanese automaker said it expects 170 billion yen (S$2.07 billion) in operating profit in the year to March 2017, down from 227 billion yen in the previous year.

The company also booked a special loss of 40.7 billion yen for the previous year, saying it was setting aside reserves for costs related to air bag inflators used in its products.

In February, it had announced it had recalled around 1.9 million vehicles in Japan and abroad over airbags manufactured by Takata Corp.

REUTERS