Toyota to lower assumed dollar exchange rate to 85 yen for FY 2010

NAGOYA October 28, 2010; Japan Today reported that Toyota Motor Corp plans to revise downward its assumed dollar exchange rate from 90 yen to 85 yen in estimating earnings for fiscal 2010 ending March, company sources said Wednesday. The automaker intends to disclose the revision in its earnings report for the first half of fiscal 2010 on Nov 5 in response to the dollar’s sharp depreciation against the yen since August, they said.

The revision would mean that Toyota is assuming a dollar exchange rate of 80 yen for the second half of the current fiscal year. The dollar fell to around 81 yen from around 86 yen in early August. Toyota has estimated every 1-yen decline of the dollar lowers its annual group operating profit by 30 billion yen. The coming revision of 5 yen would lower the figure by 150 billion yen.

The company intends to reduce the impact by expanding sales in emerging countries and cutting costs, the sources said.