Toyota Posts Revised Earnings

TOKYO Decmbr 26, 2002; The AP reported that Toyota Motor Corp., has revised its earnings under U.S. accounting rules, showing a slightly smaller earnings increase for the first half of the year than announced previously.

The revised earnings show Toyota posted a net profit of 425.8 billion yen ($3.55 billion) in the six months to Sept. 30, up from 228.5 billion yen the year before.

Under the company's old accounting rules, the automaker said last month it earned 553 billion yen ($4.61 billion) for the first half, nearly double the 291 billion yen in net profits the year before.

The results, the company's best ever in the first six months of the fiscal year, reflected strong sales in the United States and Europe, despite slowing economies there.

Toyota's revision, made under U.S.-style Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, were released Thursday as Japan's financial watchdog intensified pressure on major banks to also reassess their bad loans using tougher Western-style accounting rules.

Under U.S. standards, first-half sales at Toyota rose nearly 15 percent to 7.61 trillion yen ($63.4 billion) from 6.62 trillion yen in 2001.

That was roughly in line with the previously announced first-half earnings of 7.88 trillion yen ($65.7 billion), up 15 percent from 6.83 trillion yen last year.

Toyota's rising fortunes mirror those of Nissan Motor Co., which reported robust second-quarter earnings last month and raised forecasts for full-year profits. Honda Motor Co. also reported a quarterly profit increase last week but warned of pressure from the U.S. economic slowdown and stiff domestic competition.