Toyota nearly doubles Q1 profit led by rising sales, production volumes

Toyota nearly doubled its operating profit in the first quarter, the Japanese automaker said on Tuesday, helped by increased sales and production volumes as well as the tailwind from the weaker yen.

"Sales volumes across all regions increased compared to the same period a year earlier due to productivity improvement efforts made together with suppliers," the company said in its earnings announcement.

The world's top-selling automaker said operating profit for the three months through June totalled 1.12 trillion yen ($7.85 billion), an increase of 94 per cent from a year earlier, beating the average 945.22 billion yen profit estimate in a poll of 10 analysts by Refinitiv.

Last year's operating profit was 578.66 billion yen in the first quarter.

Profit estimates 

Toyota maintained its forecast for a 3.0 trillion yen profit for the current year, as the conditions it faced had not changed greatly from three months earlier.

That forecast compared to a 3.6 trillion yen average forecast from 23 analysts. Toyota said it may consider a revision around the time of its half-year results.

Tuesday's earnings are the Japanese auto giant's first since it laid out an ambitious plan to better compete in the global market for battery-powered vehicles, as well as detailed its hydrogen strategy.

If it does not realise its plan, Toyota risks missing out on a rapid shift to electric vehicles in especially China, where the rise of local competitors and price cuts by Tesla and others are hurting its market share.

Toyota said it sold some 2.53 million Toyota and Lexus luxury brand cars in the quarter, up 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, with around 34 per cent of those being hybrids and other electrified vehicles.

By region, operating profit in Japan more than doubled from a year earlier to 700.7 billion yen, making up more than 60 per cent of the overall operating profit as vehicle sales rose, helped by a better supply of semiconductors.

Toyota shares, which were up 1.15 per cent just before the release of the earnings, extended their gains immediately after and were up 2.6 per cent at 2,448 yen.