Tokyo  - Nissan Motor Co saw its net profit rise 4.7 per cent in fiscal 2007 that ended in March to 482.26 billion yen (4.22 billion dollars) compared to a year before.

Brisk sales helped push the net profit up for the year, the Japanese automaker said.

Sales grew 3.4 per cent to 10.82 trillion yen in a year from April 2007, and operating profit was up 1.8 per cent to 790.83 billion yen.

Nissan's global sales hit a record 3,770,000 units in fiscal year 2007, up 8.2 per cent from a year before.

In North America, sales inched up 1.2 per cent to 1,352,000 units, and those in Europe jumped 17.9 per cent to 636,000 units.

But domestic sales were down 2.5 per cent to 721,000 units.

Nissan expected its earnings to fall in the current year through March 2009 due to a stronger yen and surging oil prices.

The company projected its operating profit to tumble 30.5 per cent to 550 billion yen on sales of 10.35 trillion yen, down 4.4 per cent. The net profit was also expected to dive 29.5 per cent to 340 billion yen. (dpa)