Tokyo - Mazda Motor Corp saw its net profit fall 45 per cent during the July-to-September quarter to 14.5 billion yen (147 million dollars) because of the yen's rise and the higher costs of raw materials, the company said Thursday.

The Japanese automaker reported operating profits of 32.4 billion yen during the second quarter, down 20 per cent from the same period a year ago, and sales of 803.7 billion yen, down 5 per cent year-on-year.

For the full year through March 31, Mazda revised its profit projections downward. It now expects net profit to drop 28.6 per cent from an earlier estimate to 50 billion yen, and operating profit to fall 21.7 per cent to 90 billion yen.

But Mazda maintained its sales forecast for the year at 3 trillion yen. (dpa)