TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday that it has raised its consolidated net profit projection for the year ending in March 2023 from 2.26 trillion yen to 2.36 trillion yen, still down 17.2 pct from the previous year.

The upward revision comes as the Japanese automaker thinks that the benefits of a weak yen will outweigh the impact of a worldwide semiconductor shortage and soaring material prices.

Toyota raised its sales forecast from 33 trillion yen to 34.5 trillion yen, up 9.9 pct, while maintaining its operating profit outlook at 2.4 trillion yen.

The automaker revised its assumed exchange rate for the dollar to 130 yen from 115 yen.

The company kept its forecast for global vehicle sales unchanged at 10.7 million units.

For the fiscal first quarter ended in June, Toyota reported sales of 8,491,116 million yen, up 7 pct from a year before.

Operating profit plunged 42 pct to 578,655 million yen, and net profit fell 17.9 pct to 736,820 million yen.

JIJI Press