Nissan Motor chief executive Carlos Ghosn unveils the Serena minivan in Tokyo on Monday. (Reuters)

Tokyo, April 25 (Reuters): Nissan Motor Co has posted an 11 per cent rise in fourth-quarter operating profit as US demand drove global sales to a record high, but it forecast a lower-than-expected 1 per cent earnings rise this year, citing uncertain growth in the US and Japanese markets.

Japan?s No.2 auto maker, 44 per cent owned by France?s Renault SA, also said it would delay by one year a previous target to sell 4.2 million vehicles globally by the end of a three-year business plan.

The news, which came minutes before the close of trading, erased earlier gains in Nissan?s stock, sending the shares down 1.15 per cent to 1,036 yen.

Other top Japanese auto makers, including Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, are also expected to post record earnings for the year ended March 31 as they grab market share from US and European rivals.

Last week, General Motors Corp posted its worst quarterly loss since flirting with bankruptcy in 1992, while Ford Motor Co reported a 38 per cent drop in earnings. Both suffered falling sales on their home turf.

Nissan reported an operating profit of 249 billion yen ($2.36 billion) for January-March, bringing full-year profits to a record 861.16 billion yen. The results included the 50 per cent consolidation of its Chinese joint venture and full contributions from its Thai and Taiwan-based units for the first time.

For 2005-06, the maker of the 350Z sports car expects another record operating profit of 870 billion yen and net profit of 517 billion yen, assuming an exchange rate of 105 yen to the dollar and 130 yen to the euro. That compared with market expectations of a 5 per cent rise in operating profit to 908 billion yen, according to 21 analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates.

?Nissan's forecast for the current business year looks conservative,? said Yoshihisa Okamoto, senior vice-president at Fuji Investment Management.

?We thought Nissan's planned launch of six cars this year would contribute more sales and profits, but the company doesn't seem to think so,? he added.

Revenues are seen totalling 9 trillion yen with a 6.8 per cent rise in sales to 3.618 million units on six models launched, although none in the United States.

This year?s results will also include the consolidation of parts maker Calsonic Kansei Corp for the first time.

After years of industry-beating growth since chief executive Carlos Ghosn came to rescue a near-bankrupt Nissan in 1999, the Japanese auto maker is forecasting an abrupt slowdown in profit growth.