Toyota cautious on outlook after near-record quarterly profit

Toyota took a cautious stance on its profit outlook, worried over currency moves and a slowdown in Thailand and other emerging markets, even as healthy earnings on overseas sales lifted it to a near-record quarterly profit.

The world's biggest carmaker trounced its rivals Volkswagen AG and General Motors in earnings for the period as a weaker yen made exports more profitable and allowed Toyota to convert money made overseas at a more profitable rate.

Toyota posted its second best quarterly operating profit at 663.4 billion yen ($6.69 billion). Currency moves, mostly the yen’s depreciation, accounted for more than 80 per cent of the rise.

“There are some uncertainties in emerging markets,” Toyota Managing Officer Takuo Sasaki told a news conference. – (Reuters)