Toyota Ups FY 2014 Operating Profit Estimate to 2.7 T. Yen

Tokyo, Feb. 4 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> said Wednesday that it has revised up its group operating profit projection for fiscal 2014 ending next month to 2.7 trillion yen from 2.5 trillion yen. The top Japanese automaker would thus post a record profit for the second straight year thanks to strong vehicle sales in North America and improvements in profitability from vehicle exports and overseas operations amid the yen's weakening, although domestic operations continue to be sluggish due to the lingering impacts of the consumption tax hike to 8 pct from 5 pct in April last year. The new operating profit forecast would mark a rise of 17.8 pct from the previous year's result. For the whole of fiscal 2014, Toyota now assumes exchange rates of 109 yen to the dollar, against its previous estimate of 104 yen, and 139 yen to the euro, against 137 yen. The yen's drop will push up Toyota's operating profit by 175 billion yen while cost reductions will improve profit by 40 billion yen. Toyota also raised its fiscal 2014 net profit estimate from 2 trillion yen to 2.13 trillion yen, an all-time high, and the sales projection from 26.5 trillion yen to 27 trillion yen. Toyota kept unchanged its group vehicle sales worldwide at 10.1 million units. In April-December, Toyota's group operating profit rose 13.9 pct from a year before to 2,114,826 million yen, hitting a record high for the first time in seven years. The profit topped 2 trillion yen for the first time for the nine-month period. Net profit climbed 13.2 pct to a record 1,726,863 million yen. Sales grew 5.2 pct to 20,115,614 million yen, also a record high. Commenting on the robust earnings, Toyota Managing Officer Takuo Sasaki said at a press conference that the group's cost-cutting and marketing efforts amid the tough business environment marked by the 2008 collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers and the yen's appreciation have been paying off. Toyota's group earnings are based on U.S. accounting standards. [EARNINGS] END