Profits sink at Toyota
Profits have plunged 99 per cent at Toyota Motor during the three months to 30 June. The company, which has major operations in Derbyshire, attributed the drop to March's earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Net profit for the three months to the end of June fell to 1.1bn yen (£8.7m) from 190.4bn yen last year.
The manufacturer said profits were damaged by a shortage of parts around the world after Japan's supply chain was affected detrimentally by the natural disasters.
Takahiko Ijichi, Toyota's senior managing officer, said: "In Japan and North America where the effects of the earthquake were particularly serious, vehicle sales declined substantially. In the Asia region, despite the impact of the earthquake, we were able to maintain a similar level of vehicle sales as the previous year in countries led by Indonesia."
Despite the drop, Toyota has upped its full-year profit outlook by 40 per cent. The company said it expected net profit to hit 390bn yen, a rise on the previously forecast 280bn yen.
