TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toyota Motor said on Wednesday it expected a 10% rise in operating profit in the current financial year as the group forecast higher sales in major markets around the world. a context of alleviating microchip supply problems.

During the first presentation of the results of new chief executive Koji Sato, who took office last month, Toyota said it expects operating profit to increase by around 10% to 3 trillion yen this year. , estimate in line with the average analyst forecast of 3.020 billion yen.

“We expect sales volume to increase across all regions and production volume to 10.1 million (vehicles), due to factors such as…improvement in semiconductor supply “, Toyota said in a statement.

Under pressure from a rapid transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and looking to make its mark in the sector, Toyota said last month it would launch 10 new battery-powered vehicles, aiming for sales of 1.5 million per year. year by 2026.

For the quarter ending March, Toyota reported operating profit of 626.9 billion yen (about 4.22 billion euros), citing a weak yen that boosted the value of sales there. overseas and higher production volumes which offset the impact of higher material costs.

This figure is well above an estimate of 553.46 billion yen expected by 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data, as well as the 463.86 billion yen recorded the previous year during the same period.

Toyota shares rose 0.78% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

(Report by Daniel Leussink, Dina Kartit, edited by Kate Entringer)

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