Tokyo — Toyota Motor raised its full-year operating profit forecast on Wednesday, as cost reduction efforts and strong hybrid sales were expected to help offset the impact of US import tariffs.
The world’s biggest carmaker now expects operating profit of ¥3.4-trillion ($22.6bn) for the financial year to end-March, up 6% from its previous outlook of ¥3.2-trillion.
“Despite the impact of US tariffs, we have continued to build upon our improvement efforts, such as increasing sales volume, improving costs and expanding value chain profits,” the company said in presentation materials.
Toyota reported a second consecutive quarterly operating profit drop in the second quarter at ¥839.6bn, down 27% from ¥1.16-trillion a year earlier and below the ¥863.1bn average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Despite increased vehicle sales, the carmaker’s North American business swung to an operating loss of ¥134bn for the first half of the financial year from a ¥128bn profit a year earlier, hurt by US tariffs.
Toyota said last week its worldwide production increased by more than 10% in September and rose for a fourth consecutive month, as both sales and output increased in the US, its top market.
Reuters
