Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it will post a record consolidated operating profit of 187 billion yen for the first half of fiscal 2001, due to continued progress in its ongoing three-year restructuring plan.

The result, up 39 percent from a year earlier, marked the third consecutive half-year term of record profits for the automaker.

Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed his intention to stay on even beyond the completion of the current Nissan revival plan in March 2003, to implement another three-year plan to accelerate the firm's growth and profitability.

Ghosn also said that Nissan expects its consolidated interest-bearing debts as of the end of September to sit at 804 billion yen, down 149 billion yen from the end of March 2001. The company expects its net profit for the April-September period to reach 230 billion yen.

"Two years later and a full 18 months into the execution of the plan, the NRP (Nissan Revival Plan) continues to bear fruit ahead of schedule and profits beyond forecasts," Ghosn said.

Consolidated sales for the six-month period are estimated at 3 trillion yen, which is in line with the firm's performance during the same period a year earlier, although sales volume declined. Ghosn said that the weaker yen had positive effects on revenues.

During the six months, Nissan sold 1,286,000 vehicles globally, down 3.8 percent compared to last year, he said.