Japan's Toyota raises its profit outlook after solid earnings helped by a weak yen

Toyota is raising its full fiscal year profit forecast after reporting its October-December profits nearly doubled from the year before

TOKYO -- Toyota raised its full fiscal year profit forecast Tuesday after reporting its profit in the October to December quarter nearly doubled from the year before.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s third quarter profit totaled 1.36 trillion yen ($9 billion), up from 727.9 billion yen in the same period in 2022, as Japan’s top automaker recovered from losses suffered when the coronavirus pandemic slammed computer chip production.

In the first nine months of the fiscal year, Toyota reported a 3.9 trillion yen ($26 billion) profit, more than double what it racked up the previous fiscal year.

A favorable exchange rate also helped the maker of the Camry sedan, Prius hybrid and luxury models. A weak yen raises the value of overseas earnings when they are converted into yen. The dollar has been trading at about 148 yen lately, up from 140 yen a year ago.

Quarterly sales rose 23% to 12.04 trillion yen ($81 billion) from 9.75 trillion yen.