Toyota annual net profit drops by a quarter

Japanese car giant Toyota said Wednesday its annual net profit fell by a quarter despite record sales, blaming investment losses, but it forecast an upturn in the year ahead.

The maker of the Camry sedan and Prius hybrid said net profit came in at 1.88 trillion yen ($17 billion) in the year to March 31, down 24.5 per cent from the year before, which was its best-ever result.

The firm forecast net profit to rise 19.5 percent in the coming year to 2.25 trillion yen.

Toyota's bottom line for the past year was pushed down by some 294 billion yen in book losses on its investment portfolio.

Sales rose 2.9 per cent to a record 30.23 trillion yen in the last year, leaving an operating profit of 2.47 trillion yen, which was up 2.8 perc ent on-year.

For the current year to March 2020, Toyota expects operating profit will increase 3.3 percent to 2.55 trillion yen with sales forecast to sag 0.7 percent to 30 trillion yen.

Satoru Takada, an analyst at TIW, a Tokyo-based research and consulting firm, said "Toyota has cruised steadily, compared with its rivals."