Toyota says net profit rises on weak yen, cost cuts

TOKYO, Aug  5 (AFP) : Toyota said Tuesday its net profit in the three months through June came in at a record $5.7 billion, with the rise largely thanks to cost-cutting and a weak yen.
The world's biggest automaker also said it was on course to deliver a profit of 1.78 trillion yen ($17.4 billion) in the current fiscal year.
However, the firm trimmed its calendar year global sales target to 10.22 million units, from an earlier estimate of 10.33 million, as demand across Asia, including Japan, slipped in the latest quarter from a year ago.
Japanese car companies have been big winners over the past year as a sharp drop in the yen inflated their repatriated profits, while sales accelerated in key markets including the US and China. Toyota's results come after rivals Nissan and Honda both booked fatter profits in the quarter.
On Tuesday, Toyota said it earned 587.8 billion yen in the quarter, up nearly 5.0 per cent from 562.2 billion yen a year earlier. Sales rose 2.2 per cent to 6.39 trillion yen, it said.
The firm said it sold 2.24 million vehicles globally in the quarter, slightly up from a year ago.