Toyota Q1 net profit soars to $9.1 billion

TOKYO

Japan's Toyota said yesterday that net profit in its first quarter surged 78 percent as global production rebounded after severe supply disruptions a year ago.

The world's biggest automaker by sales said net profit in the three months to June was 1.31 trillion yen ($9.1 billion) on sales of 10.55 trillion yen, up 24.2 percent from a year ago.

Toyota, including its Lexus brand, sold 2.538 million vehicles worldwide, up 8.4 percent from a year ago.

The figures beat market expectations, sending the company's stocks up almost three percent immediately after the announcement.

The company also maintained its annual targets, including net profit of 2.58 trillion yen and sales of 38 trillion yen.

"The sales volume increased in all regions due to productivity improvement efforts promoted with suppliers, in addition to an improvement in the supply and demand situation for semiconductors, which continued for a while," the company said in a statement.

The yen's slide and foreign exchange fluctuations added 115 billion yen to Toyota's operating profit.

A better mix of models, improving sales and price revisions in overseas markets also boosted its earnings, Toyota said.

However, soaring materials prices impacted the company to the tune of 230 billion yen.

But Toyota said it believed "market conditions, such as those for precious metals, have stabilized compared to last year."