TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp.'s annual profit surged 55 percent, making Japan's biggest automaker the nation's first company to earn more than 1 trillion yen in a single year.
Toyota said its record earnings for the year ended in March reflected booming sales in nearly all regions across the world, despite unfavorable exchange rates. And it sees no slowdown in sales this year.
Toyota's group net profit totaled 1.16 trillion yen ($10.2 billion), up from its previous record profit of 751 billion yen a year ago. Sales climbed 12 percent to 17.3 trillion yen ($152 billion) from its previous high mark of 15.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2002.
Toyota sold 6.7 million vehicles around the world, up nearly 10 percent from 6.1 million 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's sales in Europe rose to 898,000 vehicles, an increase of 122,000, led by the Yaris sedan and Corolla. Sales in other regions, including Asia and the Middle East, rose by 277,000 vehicles to 1.41 million. Even in the lagging Japanese market, Toyota managed to gain market share.
"Toyota is on a roll, boosting sales in America, Europe and Asia," said Takaki Nakanishi, analyst at UBS Securities in Tokyo. "Once an automaker becomes a winner like this, it's likely to stay that way for a while."
Toyota, which does not give consolidated financial forecasts, said Tuesday that vehicle sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, will rise to 7.02 million vehicles.
It plans to spend 680 billion yen ($6 billion) in research and development, and an additional 990 billion yen ($8.7 billion) in capital investment in fiscal 2004.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toyota shares finished unchanged at 3,760 yen ($33) Tuesday shortly before earnings were announced. The company's U.S.-traded shares rose $1.66, or 2.5 percent, to $68.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.