Toyota set to post billion dollar annual profit: report

Japan's embattled auto giant Toyota will likely post an operating profit of around one billion dollars for the year to March despite worldwide safety recalls, a local newspaper reported Sunday.Toyota, which is to release its annual results on Tuesday, may report an operating profit of up to 100 billion yen (1.09 billion dollars), the Yomiuri newspaper reported, without citing sources.The world's top automaker posted a net loss of 4.4 billion dollars in the year to March 2009, the first time ever it had sunk into the red, as global car sales collapsed during the recession.

Japanese auto giant Toyota Tuesday reported an annual profit of 2.2 billion dollars (209.4 billion yen) in the fiscal year ended March, despite being hit by a massive global recall crisis.It also offered a strong outlook on the year to come despite pulling nearly 10 million vehicles worldwide, forecasting a profit rise of 48 percent.Toyota's annual profit, helped by cost-cutting efforts and buoyed by stronger domestic demand, marked a turnaround from a loss of 4.4 billion dollars the year before when it sank into the red for the first time.

Toyota said it had agreed to pay about $1.1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit launched by US vehicle owners affected by a series of mass recalls from the Japanese automaker. Toyota did not accept any blame but agreed to compensate owners who argued that the value of about 16.3 million vehicles took a hit from dozens of deadly accidents allegedly caused by Toyota vehicles speeding out of control in 2009.

Japanese automakers Mitsubishi and Mazda said on Thursday they were mired in the red in the six months to September, warning that the global car industry remains in a severe situation.Mitsubishi Motors Corp. posted a first-half net loss of 36.40 billion yen (402 million dollars), swinging into the red after a year-earlier profit of 12.77 billion yen.Revenue more than halved to 573.03 billion yen from 1.21 trillion yen, leaving the group with an operating loss of 32.50 billion yen, compared with a profit of 25.36 billion yen in the same period of 2008.

Reuters - The federal judge handling scores of lawsuits against Toyota Motor Cor