Toyota profits fall in first-quarter

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:09:46 GMT

Toyota announces a 28.1% drop in its first-quarter profits, as a weak US economy and strong yen put the company under increasing pressure.

The top Japanese automaker, which is in a tight race with General Motors for the title of the world's top automaker, posted net profit of 353.66 billion yen (3.2 billion dollars) in the three months to June, the first quarter of the financial year.

Operating profit plummeted 38.9 percent to 412.59 billion yen, as revenue fell 4.7 percent to about 6.22 trillion yen.

Toyota has as so far dodged the kind of losses suffered by US automakers such as General Motors and Ford. But now the figures show that even Toyota is feeling the crunch, as its sales growth slows amid a US recession and rising costs.

The Japanese car manufacturer maintained its estimate for net profit to decline 27 percent to 1.25 trillion yen for the full financial year to next March.

MJ/RA