Toyota Motor Corp. raised its annual operating profit forecast by 4.2% on the back of favourable currency exchange rates and sales above expectations, but added that the impact of coronavirus is difficult to assess, therefore it was not taken into account.
Many brands in China has suspended work in accordance with government recommendations to prevent the spread of the virus, which has claimed nearly 600 lives.
Toyota expects operating profit for the year ending in March to rise to 2.5 trillion yen (about 22.7 billion U.S. dollars), compared to 2.47 trillion yen from a year earlier, which corresponds to market expectations.
the Outlook Revision is based on the expectation that the average rate of the yen to the dollar will be about 108 in the current fiscal year compared to 107 yen previously.
Profit in the third quarter, however, decreased by 3.2% to 654,4 billion yen amid weaker sales of cars, although the result was slightly above market expectations.
Sales in Asia fell 12.5%, while sales in North America, Toyota's largest market, decreased by 1.8%.
For the full year, Toyota now plans to sell of 10.73 million vehicles, slightly above the previous forecast of 10.7 million.
