Toyota on Monday raised its profit forecast after earnings from Japan last quarter jumped to a four-year high of $1.8 billion. That was 46 percent higher than the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, while income from North America and other parts of Asia missed projections.
Asia’s largest automaker benefited from government subsidies that drove up demand for Prius hybrids, and the company cited cost savings allowing it to earn more profit in Japan than in any other region. That’s a contrast to the losses piling up at electronics makers from Sharp to Panasonic and Sony as they struggle to compete against the likes of Samsung and Apple.
“Manufacturers have a lot to learn from Toyota,” said Edwin Merner, Tokyo-based president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp., which manages about $300 million in assets.
Others can learn to “stay the course even in bad times, not blame other people or the government when things go wrong,” he said.
Toyota has gained 25 percent in Tokyo trading during 2012, the most among Japan’s three largest carmakers.
Profit at home offset the current slump in China, where a wave of anti-Japan sentiment, stemming from a territorial dispute over a group of islands claimed by both countries, is driving consumers away.
Toyota raised its full-year projection for net income and operating profit. That’s a contrast to Honda, Japan’s third-largest automaker, which last week cut its profit forecast 20 percent, citing concerns about China demand.
For Toyota, the Japanese operations posted their third straight quarter of profit, after eight quarters of losses. In North America, the maker of the Camry sedan saw operating income double, though it was 18 percent below the average estimate in the Bloomberg survey. In Asian markets outside of Japan, earnings rose 32 percent, albeit 10 percent less than the consensus.
Earnings from Europe, which rose and beat analysts’ estimates, only accounted for 2.5 percent of total operating profit.
