Toyota Motor Corp reported on Wednesday its fourth quarter operating profit jumped 92% as it shrugged off chip supply issues and as its sales recovered from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan's biggest automaker posted an operating profit of 689.8bn yen (roughly R88,977,462,000) in the January-March quarter, beating an estimate of 641.5bn yen (roughly R82,695,709,061) from 10 analysts compiled by Refinitiv. The profit was 369.9bn yen (roughly R47,702,636,910) in the same period a year earlier.
The global auto industry has been grappling with a chip shortage since late last year. This was worsened in recent months by a fire at a chip plant in Japan and blackouts in Texas in the US where a number of chipmakers have factories.
However, Toyota surprised rivals and investors last quarter when it said its output would not be disrupted significantly by chip shortages even as Volkswagen, Genera w or suspend some production.
Analysts have said Toyota, the world's biggest automaker by vehicle sales, has so far been largely unscathed and this is likely due to its chip stockpiling policy.
The maker of the RAV4 SUV crossover and Prius hybrid said it sold 9.92 million vehicles group-wide in the fiscal year just ended, and expects to expand its sales this year to 10.55 million units.
It forecast operating profit to rise 13.8% this year to 2.50tn yen (roughly R322,402,250,000), lower than a 2.65tn yen (roughly R341,802,027,050) average profit forecast from 24 analysts compiled by Refinitiv.
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