ID :
121547
Wed, 05/12/2010 - 08:54
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https://www.oananews.org//node/121547
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Toyota swings back into black at operating level in FY 2009+
TOKYO, May 11 Kyodo - Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it returned to the black at the operating level in the fiscal year ended March 31 thanks to aggressive cost-cutting efforts and robust sales in Japan and other parts of Asia, even as the automaker continued
to deal with the fallout from its massive global recalls.
A day after U.S. transport safety authorities launched a new probe into
Toyota's recalls over steering-wheel defects in 2005, the top Japanese
automaker booked a group operating profit of 147.52 billion yen for fiscal
2009, a turnaround from a loss of 461.01 billion yen in fiscal 2008. Its
projection in May last year was an operating loss of 850 billion yen.
Toyota also booked a consolidated net profit of 209.46 billion yen in the
reporting fiscal year, compared with a loss of 436.94 billion yen in the
previous year.
While its cost-cutting efforts helped the company to log operating and net
profits, Toyota saw its sales in fiscal 2009 fall 7.7 percent from a year
earlier to 18.95 trillion yen due to the impact of the recall problems.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda acknowledged that the company will continue to
face challenges and added that Toyota will ''fully cooperate'' with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's latest probe over the 2005
recalls.
The NHTSA has imposed a record $16.38 million fine on Toyota for failing to
promptly notify them of problems with accelerator pedals, and the possibility
of further fines was not ruled out by U.S. Transport Secretary Ray LaHood on
Monday.
Bearing in mind the recall issue, Toyoda said at a press conference in Tokyo,
''Overall, Toyota remains in a storm, but far off the sky is starting to clear
up.''
In fiscal 2008, Toyota booked its first operating loss in 71 years as its
global auto sales were hit by the worldwide economic slump.
Toyoda identified the automaker's hybrid cars and sales in emerging economies,
notably China and India, as areas of growth for the company.
''This fiscal year marks a fresh start for Toyota and I would like to move it
toward to new growth strategies,'' he said at his first news conference on the
earnings report for the full business year. Toyoda, the grandson of the
company's founder, assumed the helm of the auto giant in June last year.
Toyota Senior Managing Director Takahiko Ijichi at the same news conference
said the company was able to keep in line with its earlier estimated financial
costs related to the recall issue which were between 170 billion yen to 180
billion yen, and that recall-linked costs will affect about 50,000 vehicles,
lower than the earlier projection in February of 100,000 units.
To take responsibility for the recall issue, Toyoda said the company's top
executives will not receive any bonus for fiscal 2009, and that he and other
representative directors have also been voluntarily returning part of their
monthly remuneration since April.
The automaker suffered a major blow to its long-held reputation for quality due
to problems involving accelerator pedals and floor mats that could cause sudden
acceleration, leading to the recall of over 8 million vehicles worldwide,
including some of its top-selling models such as the Prius and the Camry sedan.
For fiscal 2010 to next March, Toyota is anticipating a group operating profit
of 280 billion yen, up 89.8 percent from fiscal 2009, and a group net profit of
310 billion yen, up 48.0 percent, on sales of 19.2 trillion yen, up 1.3
percent.
Toyota said its total auto sales from April 2009 to March 2010 fell by around
330,000 units from a year earlier to about 7.24 million units. Its sales in
North America totaled about 2.1 million units, down 114,000 units, while sales
in Japan rose by 218,000 units to 2.16 million units, thanks to the
government's incentive measures for eco-friendly cars, and sales in other parts
of Asia were up by 74,000 units to 979,000 units.
In the current business year through next March, Toyota is projecting that its
global sales will increase to 7.29 million units due to an anticipated increase
in auto demand from other Asian countries including emerging economies.
In response to demand in China and India, Toyota said it will boost local
production there by creating plants in these emerging economies.
Toyota, which has Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. under its wing, has
based its full-year forecast on an average exchange rate of 90 yen to the U.S.
dollar and 125 yen against the euro, compared with 93 yen to the dollar and 131
yen against the euro in the fiscal year that ended March 31.
It said its annual dividend for the fiscal year is likely to be 45 yen per
share but did not provide a forecast for the current business year.
Toyota's upbeat earnings report comes after Honda Motor Co. reported in late
April that its group net and operating profits in fiscal 2009 nearly doubled
from the previous year on the back of strong sales in Asia and cost-cutting
efforts. The other major Japanese automaker, Nissan Motor Co., will be
releasing its earnings figures on Wednesday.
==Kyodo
to deal with the fallout from its massive global recalls.
A day after U.S. transport safety authorities launched a new probe into
Toyota's recalls over steering-wheel defects in 2005, the top Japanese
automaker booked a group operating profit of 147.52 billion yen for fiscal
2009, a turnaround from a loss of 461.01 billion yen in fiscal 2008. Its
projection in May last year was an operating loss of 850 billion yen.
Toyota also booked a consolidated net profit of 209.46 billion yen in the
reporting fiscal year, compared with a loss of 436.94 billion yen in the
previous year.
While its cost-cutting efforts helped the company to log operating and net
profits, Toyota saw its sales in fiscal 2009 fall 7.7 percent from a year
earlier to 18.95 trillion yen due to the impact of the recall problems.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda acknowledged that the company will continue to
face challenges and added that Toyota will ''fully cooperate'' with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's latest probe over the 2005
recalls.
The NHTSA has imposed a record $16.38 million fine on Toyota for failing to
promptly notify them of problems with accelerator pedals, and the possibility
of further fines was not ruled out by U.S. Transport Secretary Ray LaHood on
Monday.
Bearing in mind the recall issue, Toyoda said at a press conference in Tokyo,
''Overall, Toyota remains in a storm, but far off the sky is starting to clear
up.''
In fiscal 2008, Toyota booked its first operating loss in 71 years as its
global auto sales were hit by the worldwide economic slump.
Toyoda identified the automaker's hybrid cars and sales in emerging economies,
notably China and India, as areas of growth for the company.
''This fiscal year marks a fresh start for Toyota and I would like to move it
toward to new growth strategies,'' he said at his first news conference on the
earnings report for the full business year. Toyoda, the grandson of the
company's founder, assumed the helm of the auto giant in June last year.
Toyota Senior Managing Director Takahiko Ijichi at the same news conference
said the company was able to keep in line with its earlier estimated financial
costs related to the recall issue which were between 170 billion yen to 180
billion yen, and that recall-linked costs will affect about 50,000 vehicles,
lower than the earlier projection in February of 100,000 units.
To take responsibility for the recall issue, Toyoda said the company's top
executives will not receive any bonus for fiscal 2009, and that he and other
representative directors have also been voluntarily returning part of their
monthly remuneration since April.
The automaker suffered a major blow to its long-held reputation for quality due
to problems involving accelerator pedals and floor mats that could cause sudden
acceleration, leading to the recall of over 8 million vehicles worldwide,
including some of its top-selling models such as the Prius and the Camry sedan.
For fiscal 2010 to next March, Toyota is anticipating a group operating profit
of 280 billion yen, up 89.8 percent from fiscal 2009, and a group net profit of
310 billion yen, up 48.0 percent, on sales of 19.2 trillion yen, up 1.3
percent.
Toyota said its total auto sales from April 2009 to March 2010 fell by around
330,000 units from a year earlier to about 7.24 million units. Its sales in
North America totaled about 2.1 million units, down 114,000 units, while sales
in Japan rose by 218,000 units to 2.16 million units, thanks to the
government's incentive measures for eco-friendly cars, and sales in other parts
of Asia were up by 74,000 units to 979,000 units.
In the current business year through next March, Toyota is projecting that its
global sales will increase to 7.29 million units due to an anticipated increase
in auto demand from other Asian countries including emerging economies.
In response to demand in China and India, Toyota said it will boost local
production there by creating plants in these emerging economies.
Toyota, which has Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. under its wing, has
based its full-year forecast on an average exchange rate of 90 yen to the U.S.
dollar and 125 yen against the euro, compared with 93 yen to the dollar and 131
yen against the euro in the fiscal year that ended March 31.
It said its annual dividend for the fiscal year is likely to be 45 yen per
share but did not provide a forecast for the current business year.
Toyota's upbeat earnings report comes after Honda Motor Co. reported in late
April that its group net and operating profits in fiscal 2009 nearly doubled
from the previous year on the back of strong sales in Asia and cost-cutting
efforts. The other major Japanese automaker, Nissan Motor Co., will be
releasing its earnings figures on Wednesday.
==Kyodo