Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third-largest automaker, is now expected to post an operating loss this business year due to sliding sales and a stronger yen, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

It would be the company's first operating loss since Carlos Ghosn became chief executive officer in 1999, the newspaper said, citing unidentified sources.

Nissan spokesman Masako Aoyama declined to comment on the report, saying only that it was based on speculation, and that the company had no plans to make an announcement.

The auto industry downturn caused Nissan's vehicle sales to drop 31 per cent last month in the US, its key market, forcing the company to maintain a four-day work week indefinitely for its two US auto assembly plants.

In October, Nissan more than halved its operating profit forecast for the year to March 31 to €2.2 from €4.1 billion.

Since then, industry leader Toyota Motor Corp. has warned it would post its first-ever annual operating loss and other car makers have been cutting their outlooks and reducing output to cope with sliding demand.

On top of slumping sales in the mature markets of North America, Europe and Japan and slowing sales in emerging markets such as India, China and Russia, Japanese automakers are battling a stronger yen, which shaves the value of earnings made abroad. Nissan is expected to cut its earnings forecasts this month. The company's loss will amount to at least several tens of billion yen, the Yomiuri said.

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