Ballooning restructuring costs have pushed troubled Japanese commercial vehicle manufacturer Izuzu deeper into the red in the six months to September. Group net loss for the period was $684.5m – more than three times the loss during the same period last year.

The debt-ridden truck maker posted an operating loss of $174m – compared with a profit of $37m last year as sales plunged 24 per cent to $5bn.

The company is forecasting a group net loss of $1.3bn on sales of $100bn (2001= loss £351bn, sales of $130bn).