MITSUBISHI Motors Corp has reported a swing into the black during April-September for the first time in six years, helped by receding restructuring costs and a more profitable model mix.

But faced with deteriorating consumer sentiment worldwide, the Japanese auto maker on Wednesday lowered its sales and operating profit forecast for the full fiscal year ending March 2009.

Mitsubishi posted a net profit of 12.8 billion yen (US$131.5 million), a sharp turnaround from the 5.6-billion-yen loss it incurred last year. The firm said it had not posted a profit during the first half since the 2002 fiscal year.

Its operating profit rose 35 percent to 25.4 billion yen despite higher raw material costs and a stronger-than-expected yen. Meanwhile, sales fell 8 percent to 1.21 trillion yen as the global slowdown sapped consumer demand.

Mitsubishi sold 602,000 vehicles worldwide during the first half, a 13-percent decline from last year, the firm said. It cut its full-year sales forecast by 6 percent and expects to sell 1.228 million vehicles.

"The global financial crisis is impacting on the automobile industry as seen in a weakening of consumer confidence and in the effects of the credit crunch," the company said in a statement.

"It is clear that there will be a significant drop in overall demand in the mature economies of Europe and North America and also that there will be a slowdown in the economies of many of the emerging nations that until recently have been relatively buoyant," it said.