Nissan announces a 44% drop in its quarterly operating profit.

- Japan's Nissan Motor Co. reported on Thursday a 44 percent drop in third-quarter operating profit to 17.5 billion yen ($114.37 million), as the company faces stiff competition in markets such as the United States and China.

The results were better than expected, as the average estimate of six analysts in a London Stock Exchange Group survey pointed to a loss of 81 billion yen.

Nissan achieved profits of 31.1 billion yen in the same period last year.


(US Dollar = 153.0100 Yen)