Toyota raises full year outlook
TOYOTA Motor raised its full-year profit forecast by more than a third yesterday as it cuts costs, trims spending and expects Japanese government schemes to boost sales, though the guidance was still some way below analysts’ expectations.
Japan’s number one carmaker now expects operating profit – earnings from its core operations – for the year to the end of March of ¥270bn (£2.2bn), a drop of 42 per cent from last year, and lagging a consensus forecast of ¥331bn from 23 analysts.
Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex Securities, said the revised profit guidance was a bit of a disappointment. “But the market is looking at the next financial year. The key for Toyota shares will be whether profit [next year] will rise to around ¥800bn.”
Toyota, which has a market value of $135bn — more than rivals Honda, Nissan and Suzuki combined — raised its annual forecast for net profit, which includes earnings made in China, by 11 per cent to ¥200bn.
October-December operating profit jumped 51 per cent to ¥149.7bn from a year earlier, well ahead of the average estimate of a small decline to ¥93.9bn.
Those results defied the impact of a stronger yen and the disruption to production and supply chains from widespread flooding in Thailand that battered Toyota just as it was recovering from the March earthquake in Japan.
Toyota reckons the Thai floods will cost it 240,000 vehicles in lost production worldwide.