Nissan Motor stated it had booked about $84 million in charges associated to under-reported compensation for former chairman Carlos Ghosn, and cut its yearly profit outlook on weaker worldwide sales.
Ghosn, arrested and detained in Tokyo since November 19, has been indicted in Japan on charges of under-reporting his income at Nissan over 2010-2018. He has rejected the deferred pay was illegal or needed disclosure.
Nissan stated on Tuesday that it had learned around 9 billion yen ($84 million) in extra expenses associated with payments to Ghosn.
The statement was part of Nissan’s quarterly results declaration, its first since Ghosn’s November arrest on accusations of financial misbehavior.
The scandal at Nissan comes when the automaker, together with its domestic rivals such as Toyota Motor, is having a hard time with sluggish sales and declining profit in North America, a major market.
Their margins have been squeezed as they went to steep discounts to drive up demand in a competitive U.S. market where sales have plateaued near record highs.
The Japanese automaker slashed its full-year profit forecast to 450 billion yen from 540 billion yen earlier on persistent weakness in worldwide sales.
Nissan based its recent forecast on an assumption that the yen will trade around 110.6 yen to the U.S. dollar through March 31, from an earlier forecast for 105 yen.
It, however, noted a 25.4 percent boost in third-quarter operating profit on lower discounting in the United States.
