Toyota reports 25% profit decline in Q2 amid chip crunch

Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T on Tuesday posted a worse-than-expected 25% drop in second-quarter profit and cut its annual output target, as the Japanese firm battles surging parts, material costs, and a persistent semiconductor shortage outweighed a boost in overseas revenue from the plunging Japanese yen, as well as a rebound in production.

The world’s biggest automaker by sales also warned that it remained difficult to predict the future after posting its fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline, underlining the strength of business headwinds it faces.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Toyota fared better than most car makers in managing supply chains, but it fell victim to the prolonged chip shortage this year, cutting monthly production targets repeatedly.

“We’re out of the worst phase, but … it’s not necessarily a situation where we’re fully supplied,” said Kazunari Kumakura, Toyota’s purchasing group chief. “I don’t know when the chip shortage will be resolved.”

Operating profit for the three months ended September fell to 562.7 billion yen ($3.79 billion), well short of an average estimate of 772.2 billion yen in a poll of 12 analysts by Refinitiv. Toyota sales reported a 749.9 billion yen profit a year earlier, and 578.6 billion yen in profit in the first quarter.

Kumakura said the global auto chip shortage continues, as chipmakers have prioritised supplies for electronics goods such as smartphones and computers, while natural disasters, COVID lockdowns, and factory disruption have slowed recovery in auto chip supplies.

He also said the supply of older-type semiconductors, that attract little capital investment currently, would remain tight.

Amid the gloom, shares in Toyota closed down 1.9%, versus a 0.3% rise in the Nikkei average.

Some analysts were underwhelmed by the performance, saying other positive factors beyond the chip shortage should have provided a boost.

“The yen is weaker in the second quarter, the volume in the second quarter is much higher than in the first quarter, and the (COVID) lockdown in China does not affect (the volume in the second quarter),” said Koji Endo, an analyst at SBI Securities.