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TOKYO, Nov 26: Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motor Ltd. on Monday posted a $189.5 million net loss in six months to September and said it would cut a further 3,300 jobs by end-March 2004.

The company’s consolidated net loss in the six months to September came to 23.56 billion yen ($189.5m), compared with a net loss of 22.13 billion yen a year earlier.

It posted a pre-tax loss of 8.32 billion yen, compared with a pre-tax loss of 34.01 billion yen a year earlier but sales rose 14.6 per cent to 830.74 billion yen.

“Our sales rose because our overseas engine factories became fully operational,” said a spokesman for Isuzu.

Favourable foreign exchange rates also boosted to the sales figure in yen terms, he added.

The net loss partly resulted from the company, currently undergoing restructuring, booking 8.6 billion yen to pay for special retirement allowances, the spokesman said.

For the year to March 2002, the company forecast a net loss of 25 billion yen and a pretax profit of six billion yen on revenue of 1,500 billion yen.

The company also has revised its mid-term management plan which includes a further 3,300 job cuts by end-March 2004, leaving a total group workforce of 24,700.

Under the plan, the company will integrate three sales units in the greater Tokyo area, and will also close loss-making sales bases, said Isuzu President Yoshinori Ida.

The company also sees its overseas sales falling to 244,000 units in the year to March, down from 277,000 units a year earlier, due to the slump in North America.

As a result, Ida said, the new plan also includes the restructuring of its North American operations, with total fixed costs in North America being cut by 21 billion yen, partly through the loss of 520 jobs.

Isuzu, controlled by 49 per cent-shareholder General Motors Corp. (GM), said in May it would embark on a three-year restructuring plan aimed at returning the truck maker to profitability, including 9,700 job losses by March 2004.

HONDA SALES UP: Japan’s Honda Motor Co. Ltd. enjoyed gains in domestic production and sales in October, while rival Toyota Motor Corp. suffered declines in both, the companies said on Monday.

Honda said its production at home rose 8.2 per cent from a year earlier to 107,213 autos, with sales at 66,921 autos, up 19.1 per cent.

Honda said its exports increased 7.2 per cent to 38,285.—AFP