TOKYO, May 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nissan Motor posted a 3% rise in fourth-quarter operating profit on Thursday while warning that it expects to keep facing intense competition and inflationary pressure this financial year.

The automaker posted an operating profit of 90.3 billion yen ($579.59 million) in January-March, far short of the average estimate of 118.2 billion yen from eight analysts surveyed by LSEG. ($1 = 155.8000 yen) (Reporting by Daniel Leussink Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)