In the first financial quarter, the largest Japanese car manufacturer Toyota Motor increased its operating profit by 93.7 percent to 1.12 trillion yen (170.7 billion CZK). A higher volume of production and sales as well as a weaker yen exchange rate contributed to this. The company informed about this today in the report on the economic results, maintaining the profit outlook.
How much did the net profit increase?
The result exceeded analysts’ estimates. Ten of them, in a survey by Refinitiv, expected an average operating profit of over ¥945 billion. The automaker increased its sales by 24.2 percent to a record 10.5 trillion yen. The company’s net profit in the past quarter rose by 78 percent to 1.31 trillion yen.
The automaker is ramping up production capacity around the world to make up for lost opportunities during the pandemic. Easing global chip shortages have also made it possible to meet persistent demand. Group sales rose 8.1 percent to 2.75 million vehicles in the April-June period, the company said.
Yen against the US dollar
Toyota also benefited from the weaker yen. The currency weakened about eight yen against the U.S. dollar in the year to June, according to Japan’s central bank data, due to a widening interest rate differential in Japan and the United States. Every yen drop against the dollar by one yen increases the automaker’s operating profit by 45 billion yen, Toyota said.
The company maintained this year’s profit outlook, but does not rule out a revision of the estimate when the half-year financial results are published. He estimates net profit for the year to the end of March at 2.58 trillion yen, sales at 38 trillion yen.
The Toyota Motor Group overtook the German concern Volkswagen again last year and remained the largest car seller in the world for the third year in a row.
Shares of the Japanese automaker gained 2.3 percent on the Tokyo stock exchange today.
source: ČTK
