Toyota Earnings Up 55% for Fiscal Year

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that its profit for the latest fiscal year surged 55%, reflecting booming sales in nearly all regions across the world.

Profit in the year ended in March totaled $10.2 billion as sales climbed 12% to $152 billion.

Toyota sold 6.7 million vehicles around the world, up nearly 10% from a year ago. Sales in North America reached 2.1 million vehicles, an increase of 121,000 over the previous year, on the popularity of Lexus luxury models and the Corolla compact.

“Toyota is on a roll, boosting sales in America, Europe and Asia,” said Takaki Nakanishi, an analyst at UBS Securities in Tokyo.

Toyota said vehicle sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, would rise to 7.02 million vehicles.

It plans to spend $6 billion in research and development, and an additional $8.7 billion in capital investment in fiscal 2004.

For the latest fiscal year, Toyota had gains of $2 billion from cost-reduction efforts and $943 million in reimbursement for a government pension fund. Those gains more than offset the negative effect of $1.2 billion due to an unfavorable exchange rate.

A strong yen hurts Japanese exporters like Toyota by chipping away the value of their overseas earnings and making their products more expensive abroad. The dollar cost an average of 113 yen in fiscal 2003, down from 122 yen a year ago, according to Toyota.

Toyota President Fujio Cho said profitability improved because production reached full capacity at its subsidiaries.

“Clearly we are benefiting from our efforts to strengthen our overseas operations and create a global business model that is more resistant to market fluctuations and currency exchange risk,” he said.

The firm’s U.S.-traded shares rose $1.66, or 2.5%, to $68.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.