Mazda Motor Corporation moved back into operating profit in the six months to September 2026, and raised one of its four full-year profit forecasts.
What recovered
The interim earnings report (kessan tanshin) shows operating profit of ¥59.1bn, against a ¥53.9bn loss a year earlier. Sales rose 20.1% to ¥2.69tn. Net profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥44.2bn, compared with a ¥45.3bn loss. Global unit sales rose 1.2% to 617,000 vehicles.
Mazda lists operating profit moving by ¥113.0bn year on year. Volume and mix added ¥69.9bn and currency ¥72.1bn. Materials and logistics costs took away ¥61.3bn, cost improvement added ¥33.7bn, growth investment cost ¥17.1bn and fixed costs and other items added ¥15.7bn.
Not all of the recovery was operational. Mazda changed the useful life of in-house software for its connected services from five years to ten, which raised operating, ordinary and pre-tax profit by ¥1.136bn each.
What the guidance did and did not change
Full-year ordinary profit, which adds non-operating items such as interest and currency gains or losses to operating profit, is now forecast at ¥160bn, up ¥20bn or 14.3% from the May forecast. Mazda cites the first-half results and the current operating environment. Forecasts for sales (¥5.5tn), operating profit (¥150bn) and net profit (¥90bn) are unchanged.
The volume outlook was trimmed. Mazda now expects 1.297m global unit sales for the year to March 2027, 27,000 fewer than before, with the "other markets" category down 23,000. The dividend forecast is unchanged at ¥55 a share, including a ¥30 year-end payment.
The report does not itemise what drove the ordinary-profit upgrade, and Mazda stresses that the forecasts carry risks and are not commitments.