Toyota Lifts Annual Forecast, Cites Softer Yen, Share Buyback

Tokyo-based Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, raised its annual operating profit forecast by 13% on Tuesday to reflect a softer yen and announced a share buyback of up to 1 trillion yen ($6.3 billion).

The company reported a 9% slide in first-quarter operating profit, its fifth straight quarter of decline, mainly due to slumping sales in China, where it saw a 28% drop in sales, and the Iran war, which battered sales in the Middle East and led to increased costs for raw materials and parts.

The automaker also noted that its upward revision did not take into account the impact of last week's deadly earthquake in Japan's Kyushu island, forcing it to halt output at four domestic plants. Shares in Toyota closed down 1.5%, which some analysts attributed to disappointment in the size of the share buyback.

The Japanese automaker now expects 3.4 trillion yen ($21.6 billion) in operating profit for the year to end-March, still 10% lower than the past financial year. After U.S.-Japan joint yen-buying intervention late last week, the yen was trading around 157 yen to the dollar on Tuesday.