Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) revealed that it expects production at its North American plants to return to its normal level in September, sooner than it expected. The company has projected lower sales and profits for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2012 on account of earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11.
The company stated that production at its 13 North American plants is currently running at 80% of its normal production. Production of 8 of its 12 North American-based models has already returned to full production on June 6.
Last month, the company’s production capacity has been cut by 30% by idling factories or reducing work hours. As a result, the dealers may face shortages of some models during the summer.
Toyota has resumed full production of Avalon car, Camry car, Corolla compact car, Highlander SUV, Matrix small car, Sequoia SUV, Sienna minivan and Venza crossover vehicle. However, production of Lexus RX350 SUV, Toyota RAV4 crossover and Tundra and Tacoma pickups is not expected to return to its normal level this month.
Toyota expects the full year profit to fall 31% to ¥280 billion ($3.5 billion) from ¥408 billion a year ago driven by lower sales and stronger yen. The company has projected global sales to decrease to 7.24 million vehicles from 7.31 million vehicles in fiscal 2011, which will reduce earnings by ¥120 billion. These figures include sales at truck maker Hino Motors Ltd. and compact car maker Daihatsu Motor Co.
Toyota’s forecast was based on an average dollar to yen exchange rate of ¥82 for the year compared with ¥86 last year. The automaker revealed strong yen to reduce the yearly profit by ¥100 billion.
In this week, Honda Motor Co. (HMC) also forecasted a stark 63.5% drop in profit to ¥195 billion ($2.4 billion) for the fiscal year from ¥534 billion recorded in the previous fiscal year. It was based on an average dollar exchange rate of ¥80 and a euro exchange rate of ¥110 for the year.
Toyota, a Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) company, reported a profit of ¥408.18 billion ($5.07 billion) or ¥130.16 ($1.60) per share for the fiscal 2011 ended March 31, 2011 that almost doubled from ¥209.46 billion or ¥66.79 per share a year ago.
The increase in profit was attributable to positive impact of ¥490.0 billion due to marketing efforts and ¥180.0 billion due to cost reduction measures, partially offset by a negative impact of ¥110.0 billion due to the earthquake in Japan and ¥290.0 billion due to unfavorable exchange rates. The twin disaster in Japan has also led to a 52% fall in profit during the January-March quarter.
Consolidated revenues in the fiscal year rose marginally by 0.23% to ¥18.99 trillion ($235.80 billion) from ¥18.95 trillion, driven by a growth in unit sales in Asia (28%) and Other regions (15%), offset partially by a decline in unit sales in Japan (11.5%), North America (3%) and Europe (7%). Total unit sales increased 0.98% to 7.31 million units during the fiscal year.
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