Mazda plans $1.25 bln capital increase

Mazda Motor Corp. is mulling an increase of its capital amounting to 100 billion yen (about 1.25 billion U.S. dollars) by issuing new shares in an attempt to shore up its financial condition, according to local media reports on Tuesday. The automaker, expecting to log a group net loss of 100 billion yen in the business year ending in March, also plans to raise 70 billion yen in subordinate loans from financial institutions including the Development Bank of Japan and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Kyodo News reported. But a statement posted on the official website of the company the same day said the reports "were not based on information officially disclosed by Mazda." It added that "no specific actions have been decided upon and there is nothing to announce." The company has been hit by the appreciating yen and the European debt crisis and the massive flooding in Thailand last year. For the nine-month period ending in December, the carmaker logged a net loss of 112.84 billion yen.