Nissan Annual Report 200414
Moody’s
S&P
R&I
A+
AA–
A
A–
BBB+
BBB
BBB–
BB+
Aa3
A1
A2
A3
Baa1
Baa2
Baa3
Ba1
9/01 4/02 9/02 4/03 9/03 4/04 9/04 4/05 5/05
Corporate Rating
Canton plant investment included from fiscal year 2001
239244 232
206
262
326
300
378
354
427
398
478
4.0% 3.8%
5.3%
5.5%
5.8%
5.6%
4.2% 4.4%
4.8%
4.6%
3.4%
4.1%
500
400
300
200
6
5
4
3’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04
Investment in Our Future
(Billion Yen) (% of net revenue)
40
30
20
10
0 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05* ’06* ’07*’99
*Forecast
0
8
14
19
24
29
34
40
7
Dividend Policy
(Dividend per share, in yen)
PERFORMANCE
Automotive Debt:
Despite higher levels incurred for capital expenditures and
R&D, cash generated from operating activities in the
automotive division eliminated net automotive debt. Nissan
held a ¥205.8 billion yen net cash position at the close of
fiscal 2004 in this division.
Rating
Regarding Nissan’s long-term credit rating, R&I upgraded
Nissan from A- to A on May 11, 2005. S&P upgraded their
rating from BBB to BBB+ on July 20, 2004, and Moody’s
upgraded from Baa3 to Baa1 on January 29, 2004.
Investment Policy
Capital expenditures increased by ¥50.2 billion to ¥477.5
billion, representing 5.6 percent of net revenue. This
increase included the Canton plant expansion. R&D
expenditures increased by ¥43.8 billion to ¥398.1 billion.
This increase went to fund new technologies and product
development. Our R&D resources are focused on projects
that add value to our customers and that will deliver an
expected return, in both the short and long term.
Dividend
At the annual general meeting of shareholders on June 21,
2005, the company proposed increasing its dividend to
¥24 per share in 2004, up from ¥19 in 2003. In the first
year of the NISSAN Value-up dividend policy, the 
Company plans to increase the per-share dividend to ¥29
in 2005. By the end of NISSAN Value-up in March 2008,
Nissan plans to pay an annual dividend of no less than 
¥40 per share. 
Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
Nissan’s investments are made within the strict guidelines
of its automotive operating ROIC. Based on these
guidelines, Nissan reached 20.1 percent of ROIC on a
consistent basis as of fiscal 2003.