The turbulence remains topical for the Japanese automotive giant Toyota, which has long been the world’s number one, but now figure on the third step of the podium behind the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors and Volkswagen alliance. The Japanese group lowered its forecast of annual net profit on Wednesday.
A decision following the fall of 29% of its profit over the first nine months of the offbeat exercise 2018-2019, which ends at the end of March. Toyota is now targeting a net profit annual 1.870 billion yen (14.6 billion euros at the price retained by the group), and no longer than 2.300 billion as originally planned. However, it maintains its projection of operating profit unchanged at 2.4 trillion yen.
It also hopes to deliver 10.5 million vehicles for the full year, after having sold nearly 8 million vehicles between April and December worldwide.
Over the period from April to December 2018, operating income increased by 9.5%, while turnover rose 3% to 22.475.5 billion yen, for a sales target maintained at 29.500 billion yen over the year.
Decline in sales and bad stock market investments
The Japanese giant saw a decline in volume vehicle sales in Japan and North America in the first nine months of the year. A loss of revenue partly offset by activity that has remained dynamic in Europe, Asia and other regions of the world.
But if Masayoshi Shirayanagi, a group leader, also praised the effect of “cost reductions” and trade promotion initiatives, Toyota has, at the same time suffered from several factors that have prevented from earning a record profit, as in the previous financial year .
On the one hand, it did not benefit, as it did last year, from the exceptional boost of the tax reform of the Trump administration.
On the other hand, Toyota has charged about 310 billion yen losses on stock market investments, due to “the degradation of the market,” according to Masayoshi Shirayanagi.