Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said Monday its consolidated operating profit in the first half of fiscal 2003 tumbled 50.4 percent from the same period last year to 18.31 billion yen.
The company, which makes Subaru vehicles, attributed the sharp decline to increased operational costs, including incentives tied to vehicle sales in the United States.
The yen's appreciation against the dollar also ate into its earnings, it said.
Consolidated pretax profit fell 21.6 percent to 24.48 billion yen in the April-September period.
But consolidated net profit jumped 16.2 percent to 19.4 billion yen, due partly to gains generated from sales of shares held by Fuji Heavy, company officials said.
The carmaker posted record group sales of 665.39 billion yen, up 2.6 percent, supported by the popularity of the remodeled Legacy wagon in Japan and the production of 13,000 vehicles of truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd. at a manufacturing plant in the U.S.
In terms of volume, however, Fuji Heavy sold 248,000 Subaru vehicles worldwide, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier.
Domestic sales fell 5.3 percent to 113,000 units. Its minivehicle sales dropped 13.9 percent to 61,000 units, while sales of larger cars jumped 7.2 percent to 52,000 units.