TOKYO (Reuters) – Automaker Toyota raised its annual operating profit forecast by nearly 9 percent on Tuesday, after beating analysts’ expectations in the third quarter, helped by a weaker yen and strong sales. of high-margin cars and hybrid vehicles.
The announcement benefited Toyota shares which ended up 4.78% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The increase in the world’s top automaker’s forecast contrasts with a more gloomy outlook from rivals, who have cited weak sales growth and announced production cuts this year due to high interest rates and a slowdown. demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
Toyota, which has been slow to launch into battery-powered EVs, is expected to outperform rivals this year, helped by strong demand for hybrid vehicles.
The Japanese group raised its profit forecast for the current year to 4,900 billion yen (30.72 billion euros) compared to 4,500 billion previously expected. This figure far exceeds the average forecast of analysts, who expected 4.6 trillion yen, according to LSEG data.
Toyota’s operating profit for the three months ended December reached 1.68 trillion yen, up 75.7 percent year-on-year, beating the average estimate of 1.3 trillion yen in a survey by LSEG. from nine analysts.
Hybrid vehicles accounted for about a third of total sales of more than 10 million vehicles from the Toyota and Lexus brands last year.
During the third quarter, sales of hybrid models climbed 46%, contributing to an 11% increase in total vehicle sales. Geographically, the North American market, Toyota’s largest in terms of volume, recorded the strongest growth, with sales up 28%.
In Japan, sales increased by only 5%, but the group recorded the highest profits and margins in its main markets. Its domestic market contributed two-thirds of Toyota’s quarterly profit with an operating margin of 20%, well above the manufacturer’s total margin (14%) and that achieved in North America (3.4%). .
The decline of the yen, which has lost around 10% against the dollar since the end of 2022, has reinforced the impact of Toyota’s global sales.
(Report by Daniel Leussink, by Dagmarah Mackos, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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