Nissan reports 27% jump in annual profits

Nissan has seen annual profits jump 27%, boosted by better sales in China, the US and Europe.

Japan's second biggest carmaker had net profits of 663.5bn yen ($5.8bn; £4.5bn) in the year to the end of March.

But Nissan forecast profits would drop by about 20% this financial year, partly due to currency fluctuations.

Earlier this week rival Toyota reported a fall in annual profits for the first time in five years, and warned this year risked being tougher still.

The yen has been strengthening against the dollar and this tends to hurt Japanese carmakers as it reduces profits repatriated from overseas.

Globally, Nissan sold a total of 5.63 million vehicles across the year, with the biggest jump in sales being its 8.4% growth in China. Sales were up by 4.2% in the US while sales in Europe excluding Russia were up by 7.2%.

Carlos Ghosn has relinquished his chief executive role, but remains as Nissan chairman

The new financial year at Nissan also marks a new era of leadership, with Carlos Ghosn stepping down as chief executive but remaining as chairman.

Hiroto Saikawa, who was the company's co-chief executive, now has the top job.

Mr Saikawa joined Nissan in 1977, and since 1999 has served in a number of senior management positions, including overseeing operations in the Americas and Europe.