Weak yen helps Toyota overcome Japan problems

Toyota on Thursday reported a modest rise in first-quarter net profits as a weak yen and cost cuts helped the Japanese auto giant overcome a drop in production and sales in its home market.

The firm said net income rose 1.7 percent to 1.33 trillion yen ($8.9 billion) and operating profit jumped 16.7 percent to 1.31 trillion yen. Revenues climbed 12.2 percent to 11.8 trillion yen.

The world’s largest automaker by sales also kept unchanged its full-year forecasts, predicting net profit of 3.57 trillion yen, marking a drop of 27.8 percent, on sales of 46 trillion yen, which would be a gain of 2.0 percent.

“Our operating income was 1.3 trillion yen despite a decrease in production and sales volume in Japan, due to the effects of foreign exchange rates and cost reduction efforts,” Toyota said in a statement.

“Despite the inability to maintain stable production in Japan due to factors such as certification issues and recalls, we achieved an increase in profit, thanks to the support of all our stakeholders, including suppliers and dealers,” it said. (BSS/AFP)