Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor Corp said it has returned to profit in the fourth quarter with a net income of 112.2 billion yen (USD 1.21 billion), driven by sales in North America and Asia.
Toyota had incurred a net loss of 765.8 billion yen in the year-ago period, it said in a statement.
The company’s net revenues rose by 49 per cent from the year-ago period to 5.28 trillion yen in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010.
In the three-month period of 2010, the company’s vehicle sales in North America jumped by 65 per cent to 551,000 units and rose by 62 per cent to 280,000 in the Asian region.
In addition, sales in Central and South America grew by 47 per cent during the January-March period, Middle East inclined 26 per cent and Africa increased by 4 per cent.
However, Europe saw a decline of 22 per cent in vehicle sales.
The auto maker said it expects a steep 48 per cent growth in net profit to 310 billion yen in the current fiscal year. It also lifted its net revenues to 19,200 billion yen in FY’11 from 18,950 billion yen in the previous fiscal.
“I am sincerely grateful to our dealers and suppliers, who remained fully committed to providing as many cars as possible to customers, and to our employees as well as our overseas business operations for their efforts in working together so the company could return to its normal state as soon as possible,” TMC president Akio Toyoda said.
“And finally, above all, I am sincerely grateful to our customers, more than 7 million people around the world, who purchased new Toyota vehicles,” he added.
Toyota also swung to a net profit of 209.46 billion yen in the fiscal year, which ended in March. It had posted a net loss of 437 billion yen in the previous year.
The company had witnessed a decline in overall vehicle sales during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, though it witnessed growth in the Asian region.
Toyota’s consolidated sales for the fiscal year stood at 7.24 million units, down by 330,000 units from the previous one.
Besides, the company’s net revenue decreased to 18.95 trillion yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, from 20.52 trillion yen in the previous one.
“In Asia, vehicle sales stood at 979 thousand units, an increase of 74 thousand units. Operating income increased by 27.5 billion yen to 203.6 billion yen,” the company said.
