AFP, TOKYOJapanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp yesterday posted a surge in net profit on record sales for the nine months to December last year, while also upgrading its full-year profit forecast. Toyota said its net profit for April to December surged 41.4 percent year-on-year to ￥2 trillion (US$18.2 billion), while sales rose 1.6 percent to ￥22.8 trillion, the highest ever for the period. The company revised upward its full-year profit forecast to a net profit of ￥2.35 trillion for the fiscal year to March, compared with its earlier forecast of ￥2.15 trillion, thanks to foreign-exchange gains. Operating profit is forecast at ￥2.5 trillion, up from ￥2.4 trillion forecast earlier, while its sales outlook remained unchanged at ￥29.5 trillion. “The coronavirus outbreak represents a material downside risk to our scenario for a mild recovery of the Chinese auto market in 2020,” S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Vittoria Ferraris said.

Source: Taipei Times February 06, 2020 15:56 UTC