Toyota expects 79.5% annual operating profit drop due to virus

[TOKYO] Toyota on Tuesday said it expected a 79.5 per cent drop in its annual operating profit this fiscal year as it suffers "significant" fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Japanese auto giant declined to give a net profit forecast for the fiscal year to March 2021 but noted that the impact of the crisis on its business was "wide-ranging, significant and serious".

The company now expects an annual operating profit of 500 billion yen (S$6.59 billion), down 79.5 per cent from the 2.44 trillion yen logged in the past year to March.

Toyota forecast a near-20 per cent drop in annual sales to 24 trillion yen, compared with 29.93 trillion yen achieved in the past fiscal year.

The company's net profit for the past year to March came to 2.076 trillion yen, up 10.3 per cent on the year.

"As for the global economy going forward, there is concern that there will be a sharp decline in many countries and regions due to the impact of Covid-19," Toyota said in a statement.

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"While we assume that the global automobile market as a whole will gradually recover after bottoming out during April and June of 2020... the impact of Covid-19 is wide-ranging, significant and serious, and it is expected that weakness will continue for the time being."

AFP