Toyota Motor Corp predicted it will make a record profit for a second year, as a weaker yen boosts the value of high-profit Lexus luxury models and SUVs sold abroad.
Net income for the year ending in March may reach 2 trillion yen ($17.5 billion), up from its previous forecast of 1.78 trillion yen, the Toyota City, Japan-based company said today in a statement. The carmaker also raised its projections for full-year operating profit and revenue.
President Akio Toyoda steered the company founded by his grandfather back to industry-leading profits even before it became a beneficiary of Japan central bank stimulus aimed at defeating deflation. The monetary easing has driven the yen down to a near seven-year low, which should help the automaker rack up more earnings from record sport utility vehicle sales in the U.S. and improve the competitiveness of its expanding Lexus lineup.
"The impact of the yen’s depreciation is big on automakers’ earnings results," Takashi Aoki, a Tokyo-based fund manager at Mizuho Asset Management Co., said by phone before Toyota’s statement. "For Toyota, it could only be a benefit."
Toyota rose 0.1 percent to 6,808 yen at the close in Tokyo before the company announced earnings.
Net income in the July-to-September period climbed to 539.1 billion yen, beating the 499.5 billion yen average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.