Nissan posts 44% drop in quarterly operating profit

TOKYO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor reported ‌a 44% ‌fall in third-quarter operating ​profit to 17.5 billion yen ($114.37 million) on Thursday, as the ‌struggling ⁠Japanese automaker faced heavy competition in ⁠markets such as the U.S. ​and China.

The ​results ​compared with ‌an average estimate of an 81 billion yen loss in a survey of ‌six analysts ​by LSEG ​and ​a 31.1 ‌billion yen profit ​in ​the same period a year earlier.

($1 = ​153.0100 ‌yen)

(Reporting by Daniel ​Leussink; Editing by ​Muralikumar Anantharaman)