Toyota warns profit will be hit by quake

Toyota is forecasting a larger-than-expected fall in annual profit after it slashed output following the March earthquake. Net profit would be down by almost a third.

Toyota also warned the strength of the yen against the dollar and other currencies is making it difficult to justify continuing making cars in Japan and asked the government for help.

It plans to restore output to pre-quake levels by November

“Once our product supply is back to normal, we can compete with no problem. We have the resources and are fully charged,” Toyota Chief Financial Officer Satoshi Ozawa said at a briefing in Tokyo.

But Ozawa warned that Toyota was getting hammered by the strong yen and called on the Japanese government to take action to rein it in.

The Japanese currency hit a one-month high against the dollar this week and is now about five yen stronger than the 85 yen per dollar level that Toyota sees as the break-even point for profiting on production in Japan.

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