YOKOHAMA, Japan, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor ( NSANF ) swung

back to an operating profit in the second quarter on Thursday,

reporting its best quarterly result in more than a year due to

efforts to reduce fixed costs as part of its turnaround plan and

stronger sales in North America.

Nissan ( NSANF ) booked 51.5 billion yen ($342 million) in

operating profit for July-September, up 61% from 31.9 billion

yen a year earlier and beating a forecast for an average 70.9

billion yen loss from five analysts polled by LSEG.

The result marked its best single-quarter finish since a

90.3 billion profit in the final quarter of fiscal 2023.

The result comes as the automaker presses ahead with a

sweeping turnaround plan that includes reducing its global

manufacturing plants to 10 sites from 17 and laying off 15% of

its workforce.

The company maintained a forecast released last week for a

275 billion yen annual operating loss in the year through March

2026 due to the hit from U.S. tariffs and supply chain risks,

including from problems with the supply of Nexperia chips.

The company is scaling back production of its top-selling

Rogue sport utility vehicle in Japan from next week due to a

short supply of chips from Dutch firm Nexperia, a person

familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Nissan ( NSANF ) said earlier on Thursday it has concluded a 97

billion yen deal to sell and lease back its global headquarters

in Yokohama.

($1 = 150.7800 yen)