Weaker yen boosted Toyota’s yearly earnings forecast.

On Thursday, Toyota Motor Corp reported a better-than-expected 48 percent increase in second-quarter operating profit and improved its earnings outlook, citing a resurgence in vehicle demand and a weaker yen as factors.

It increased its full-year profit projection to 2.8 trillion yen ($24.5 billion) from 2.5 trillion yen, but noted that it was “in essence a downward revision owing to raw material cost increases” without the favorable currency impact.

Its operating profit for the three months ended September 30 was 750 billion yen, more than the Refinitiv average forecast of 593.3 billion yen.

Hit by a global chips shortage, the maker of the RAV4 SUV crossover and Prius hybrid lowered its full-year sales target to 10.29 million vehicles from 10.55 million. It also announced a share buyback of up to 150 billion yen or 0.86% of shares.

Story by : Norvisi Mawunyegah