Toyota nine month profits quadruple despite 3Q fall

TOKYO: Japan's Toyota Motor on Tuesday said its net profit for the nine months to December nearly quadrupled despite a 39 percent fall in the third quarter, and upped its net profit forecast for the year. The world's biggest automaker said net profit for the nine months to December rose 293.7 percent to 382.7 billion yen ($4.6 billion), and upped its annual net profit forecast to 490 billion yen from an earlier 350 billion yen. However, Toyota saw third quarter net profit plunge to 93.6 billion yen from 153.2 billion yen a year earlier.