A Nissan spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires that the report was speculative. She said the company is putting together its earnings results for the latest fiscal year and no final numbers are available. The red ink resulted from sluggish domestic sales, which eroded operating profit, along with special losses from Nissan's securities portfolio and aid extended to affiliated dealerships, the paper reported. Nissan's parent company was expected to lose a lot more money than it had expected in the fiscal year which ended March 31, the paper said. In November, Nissan projected a net loss of 10 billion yen ($ 84 million) for the year, the Yomiuri said. The newspaper also reported that Nissan might either slash its dividend payments or forego them entirely.

Also Wednesday, a spokesman for Nissan said the company's North American operations are likely to have posted a profit in fiscal 1998 for the first time in two years.