Nissan said on Friday a report by the Nikkei that it would slash production this year was "completely incorrect" and that it had lodged a complaint with the business daily, in an unusually strong denial of a media report in Japan.
The comment came after the Nikkei said Nissan would cut its global production by about 15 per cent for the current fiscal year ending March 2020, according to Reuters.
The move would mark a shift away from the aggressive expansion campaign promoted by ousted former chairman Carlos Ghosn, the paper said.
"The details reported in this story are completely incorrect, and Nissan has voiced its strong objection to the Nikkei," the Japanese car maker said on its website.
"Nissan's production plan for the current fiscal year will be disclosed on May 14, when the company announces its financial results for the previous fiscal year," said the maker of the Rogue 4x4 and Altima saloon.
The Nikkei, which also owns Britain's Financial Times newspaper, confirmed it had received the complaint from Nissan. It said it would continue to cover the issue and promptly report all the facts once they become clear.
The newspaper had earlier reported that Nissan aimed to produce about 4.6 million units in fiscal 2019, citing plans being communicated to the automaker's suppliers. The move was likely to impact earnings and could cast a pall over Nissan's alliance with French automaker Renault, the Nikkei said without elaborating.
That would be the steepest production cut in more than a decade by the Japanese car maker, as it battles weak sales in overseas markets including the United States where it plans to scale back sales operations, according to the Nikkei.
Earlier this year, Nissan, which has been battling falling sales, lowered its operating profit forecast for the current fiscal year to ¥450 billion (Dh14.69bn), 22 per cent lower than a year earlier. It would be Nissan's lowest profit since 2013.
Japanese companies typically respond to media reports by saying they were not the source of the information and, depending on the content of the report, that they may be considering various options and that nothing had been decided.
It is rare for a Japanese firm to say it has issued a strong rebuke to a media outlet.
Shares in Nissan, mired in a financial misconduct scandal involving Mr Ghosn and the company itself, closed down 2.2 per cent on Friday, versus a 0.5 per cent rise in the broader market.
The Nikkei report came on the same day broadcaster NHK said Mr Ghosn will be indicted on a fresh round of charges on April 22 as Japanese prosecutors pursue their case against him.
Prosecutors will indict Mr Ghosn as soon as Monday on new charges of aggravated breach of trust, the national broadcaster said without identifying sources. Monday is the deadline for the former auto executive’s current detention period. The charges are related to activities in the Middle East that funnelled Nissan’s money for Mr Ghosn’s personal gain, NHK said.
Mr Ghosn, who was arrested for the first time in November, is being held in a Tokyo jail. A new indictment will keep Mr Ghosn detained for longer, according to Bloomberg.
The former chairman of Nissan alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi Motors has denied the allegations as well as previously filed charges accusing him of falsifying financial information and breach of trust.
The six points:
1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences
2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it
4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow
5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided
6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before
The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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