Japan's Toyota says profit soared in Jan-March amid pandemic

Toyota says its profit more than doubled to 777 billion yen, or $7 billion, in the last quarter as the Japanese automaker’s sales recovered from the pandemic

TOKYO -- Toyota reported Wednesday its profit more than doubled in January-March from a year earlier to 777 billion yen ($7 billion), as the Japanese automaker’s sales recovered from the pandemic. Toyota Motor Corp.'s profit in January-March 2020 was 327 billion yen. Quarterly sales rose 11% on year to nearly 7.7 trillion yen ($71 billion) from 6.9 trillion yen a year earlier, the company said. The pandemic has dented sales and demand in many businesses, but Toyota has shown resilience while riding out a global shortage of semiconductors that’s slammed many automakers. In the fiscal year that ended in March, Toyota’s profits rose 10% to 2.25 trillion yen ($20.6 billion) from 2.04 trillion yen the previous year. Sales for the fiscal year slipped nearly 9% to 27 trillion yen ($248 billion).