Toyota raises forecast despite 24% slide in quarterly profit

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. more than doubled its full-year operating profit forecast on Friday, as vehicle sales rebound in China from a coronavirus pandemic squeeze earlier this year that contributed to a 24 percent slide in quarterly earnings.

Japan's top automaker said it now expects an operating profit of 1.3 trillion yen ($12.6 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2021, up from the 500 billion it predicted previously. Operating profit for the previous financial year was 2.47 trillion yen ($23.9 billion).

For the July-September quarter, operating profit fell to 506 billion yen ($4.9 billion) from 662.4 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to Reuters' calculations, as sales dipped amid the coronavirus impact globally.

Still, the numbers already showed progress compared with the April-June period, CFO Kenta Kon said.