Toyota Motor reports an over 100% growth in its Q4 net profit

Toyota Motor Corp. (LON: TYT) said on Wednesday its net profit in the fourth quarter posted an over 100% growth compared to last year as it continued to recover sharply from an unprecedented hit due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Toyota shares opened at £54.26 in the stock market on Wednesday and are currently trading at £55.46. In comparison, it had started the year at £51.59 per share.

Toyota Motor reports £50 billion of revenue

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For the quarter that concluded on 31^st March, Toyota Motor reported £5.06 billion of net profit versus £3.74 billion expected. In the comparable quarter of last year, its net profit was capped at £2.13 billion, when the Coronavirus pandemic weighed on global auto sales.

At £50 billion, the Japanese car manufacturer’s revenue climbed by 11% on a year over year basis in the fourth quarter. As car sales recovered in recent months, all reported regions saw an increase in operating profit in Q4. North American operations, Toyota said, returned to profit in the recent quarter while Japan saw a 3.6% annualised growth in operating profit.

For the full financial year, Toyota Motor now forecasts a 6.4% increase in group vehicle sales to 10.6 million units. This includes sales from subsidiaries Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor. The multinational expects its revenue to jump 10% this year to £200 billion on £15 billion of net profit – a 2.4% increase.

In separate news, German financial services firm Allianz SE said its quarterly profit jumped despite a decline in revenue.

Impact of global chip shortage on Toyota

Commenting on the impact of chip shortage on the global auto industry, chief financial officer Kenta Kon of Toyota Motor said in an online news conference on Wednesday:

“We are seeing the chip shortage as a small risk. It won’t have a significant impact on our operations in the immediate future, but we need to stay vigilant.”

Learning from the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Toyota had already secured sufficient inventory in advance. The financial update comes only weeks after Toyota bought the autonomous driving technology unit from Lyft.

Toyota Motor performed only slightly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual increase of more than 3%. At the time of writing, it is valued at £180 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 15.75.