Toyota H1 profit up 16pc

Tokyo: Japanese car giant Toyota upgraded its full-year forecast Tuesday, as the firm posted a 16 percent gain in net profit for the six months to September thanks to steady global sales and cost-cutting efforts.

The maker of the Camry sedan and Prius hybrid revised upward its net profit forecast to 2.3 trillion yen ($20.3 billion) from its earlier estimate of 2.12 trillion yen for the year to March 2019 thanks to a weak yen.

But even if the firm, which also has the Lexus luxury brand, hits this forecast, profits would still be lower than the record 2.49 trillion yen posted for the previous fiscal year.

In the April-September period, Toyota´s bottom-line profit rose 16 percent to 1.24 trillion yen, beating a 10 percent gain forecast by analysts.

Senior managing officer Masayoshi Shirayanagi said in a statement the firm was "steadily making progress" in its efforts to cut costs.