Toyota: April-June profit soars, ups forecast

Toyota said on Friday net profit soared 93.6 percent in the three months to June and added that it was on track to produce more than 10 million vehicles worldwide this year. The world's biggest automaker earned 562.19 billion yen ($5.64 billion) in the quarter on sales of 6.25 trillion yen, which were up 13.7 percent from a year earlier. Toyota credited a sharp decline in the yen among the factors for its improved results. "Operating income increased due to the impact of foreign exchange rates and our global efforts for profit improvement, through cost reduction activities," Managing Officer Takuo Sasaki said in a statement. The company added that it expects a net profit of 1.48 trillion yen for the fiscal year to March on sales of 24 trillion yen. That was up from an earlier forecast of a 1.37 trillion yen profit on sales of 23.5 trillion yen.