Toyota Motor Corp. (TM, Financial) released its fiscal 2020 fourth-quarter results on May 12 before the market opened.
Key metrics
The Japanese automaker posted lower quarterly results as the Covid-19 pandemic stopped productions at its auto plants.
Toyota recorded net profit of $590 million in the fourth quarter, down 86% from the same quarter last year. Revenue of $66 billion plunged 8% on a year-over-year basis.
Operating profit amounted to $3.58 billion in the reported quarter, down 27.5% over the past year. The carmaker lost $1.4 billion in operating profit as the pandemic more than offset the company’s cost-cutting efforts.
At the end of the quarter, the company had automotive liquidity of approximately $25.9 billion.
Segment performance
In Japan, Toyota’s sales amounted to roughly 583,000 vehicles during the quarter, down from 631,000 units sold in the year-ago quarter. Operating income stood at 336 billion Japanese yen ($3.14 billion). This was less than the ¥446.2 billion reported the year before. Operating margin fell from 9.9% to 8.4%.
In North America, sales fell roughly 8% to about 600,000 units, while operating loss jumped to ¥39 billion and operating margin dropped to a -1.6%.
Likewise, Toyota’s sales in Europe plummeted to 259,000 units in the reported quarter, down from 269,000 units last year, while operating profit in the region was down to ¥31 billion and the operating margin declined to 3.8%.
Toyota sold nearly 189,000 vehicles in China, which was less than the 326,000 units sold in the year-ago period.
Guidance
While automakers like General Motors (GM, Financial) and Honda Motor (HMC, Financial) did not provide guidance, citing the global uncertainty caused by the pandemic, Toyota has issued guidance for fiscal 2021.
The company projects its annual profit to decline by 80% to $4.66 billion, while sales are forecasted to be 7 million units and operating income is expected to be $4.6 billion.
Disclosure: I do not hold any positions in the stocks mentioned.
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