© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Nissan Motor CEO Makoto Uchida speaks during a press conference at Nissan Motor's headquarters in Yokohama
YOKOHAMA (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co (T 🙂 CEO Makoto Uchida said Tuesday that he expects weak global auto sales to put pressure on the Japanese automaker's profits and cash flow by the end of March in the fiscal year.
Uchida spoke to shareholders for the first time since taking over the top position at Nissan in December, when the automaker struggled to recover from crumbling profits and corporate restructuring after the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018.
Last week, Nissan lowered its full-year earnings forecasts to an 11-year low and lowered its dividend outlook to its lowest level since fiscal 2011 after dwindling auto sales caused the company to post its first quarterly net loss in almost a decade.
Shareholders met at an extraordinary meeting in Yokohama to vote on new directors, including Uchida and Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta.
Their appointments underscore a change of guard at Japan's second largest automaker, as shareholders also voted on requests from former CEO Hiroto Saikawa and COO Yashuhiro Yamauchi to leave their positions on the board.
Nissan's increasingly dire performance has increased pressure on Uchida, Nissan's former Chinese boss, who became his third CEO in September, to take aggressive steps to revive the company.
The new boss must prove to the board that he can accelerate the cost reduction and rebuild the profits of the 86-year-old Japanese giant and that he has the right strategy to repair his partnership with the French Renault (PA :), sources told Reuters With .
Nissan's shares are trading at their lowest level in over a decade after last week's poor results.
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