Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor increased its net profit by 465 percent to a record 897.83 billion yen (JPY; 176.5 billion CZK) in the first quarter of its financial year.
–
The economy was supported by high car sales abroad and favorable exchange rate developments. The carmaker stated this in today’s announcement.
Despite a worldwide shortage of semiconductors, which raises concerns about further developments in the automotive industry, Toyota’s sales rose 72.5 percent to JPY 7.94 trillion (CZK 1.56 trillion) in the three months to the end of June. Operating profit rose to a record 997.49 billion from 13.92 billion yen in the same period last year. Analysts in the Refinitiv survey expected an operating profit of 752 billion yen.
–
–
Toyota has also benefited from its business continuity plan, which it developed in response to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in 2011. The plan requires carmakers to have a supply of chips for two to six months, depending on the time from order to delivery. The company thus has high stocks of semiconductors – which are used in virtually everything from engine maintenance systems to safety and entertainment systems – even in times of global scarcity. It affected the production of competitors such as Hyundai Motor and Ford Motor. Recently, however, Toyota has been facing production problems in Thailand, where it cut off car production at three plants in July due to a shortage of pandemic-related components.
–
–
So far, Japan’s largest carmaker has left the outlook for the full fiscal year unchanged due to uncertain developments due to the spread of covid-19 in developing countries, a lack of chips and higher raw material and component costs. It expects net profit to grow by 2.4 percent to JPY 2.3 trillion. Operating profit expects 2.5 trillion yen, while analysts expect operating profit of 2.88 trillion JPY. According to the media, the company expects growth in car sales to 8.7 million from last year’s 7.65 million.
– .
