Toyota raises profit forecast
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota increased its net profit forecast to 780bn yen this morning, despite a slide in sales in China following a territorial dispute.
It predicted a net profit of 780bn yen (£6bn) for the year to March 2013, up from its earlier forecast of 760bn yen. Full-year operating profit would be 1.05 trillion yen, edged up from its earlier forecast of 1 trillion yen.
Profit in the three months to September more than tripled to 257.9bn yen on solid vehicle sales in the US and South East Asia.
The rise comes despite a territorial dispute with China, which hit sales.
Sales at Toyota and its two Chinese joint ventures dropped 49 per cent in September from a year earlier and 44 per cent in October. Honda’s China car sales more than halved last month. But, with about 12 per cent of its global sales in China, Toyota has lower exposure there than Nissan and Honda.