Toyota Quarterly Earnings Up 500%, Shares Soar Despite Hard Fiscal 2012

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) reported Wednesday a 30 percent drop in income for its fiscal year ended March 31, but said it's making headway to recove from last year's earthquake in Japan and floods in Thailand as income for January-March 2012 increased fivefold.

The Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker's fiscal year earnings were maimed by the double disasters of floods in Thailand as well a the Japan earthquake and tsunami that cut into last year's sales and revenues. Toyota's net income for the fiscal year fell to 283.5 billion yen ($3.56 billion) from 408.1 billion yen. The company suffered from fluctuations in the value of the yen which contributed to 250 billion yen in lost operating income, which was somewhat offset by 150 billion yen in marketing gains. Fiscal year revenue dropped 2.2 percent to 18.6 trillion yen.

Our business environment for the fiscal year to March 2012 was extremely challenging due to losses in production following the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Thai floods, in addition to the unprecedented strength of the yen, President Akio Toyoda said.

The Japanese carmaker raised its 2013 forecast. It now expects net revenue of 22 trillion yen and net income of 760 billion yen, an increase of 268 percent over fiscal year 2012.

Toyota, Japan's largest auto company, lost 400,000 cars in output during the fiscal year as a result of supply chain disruptions created by the floods, earthquake and tsunami. The loss in production was equal to roughly nine weeks of U.S. sales, according to Reuters.

Despite the trials of the last year, though, Toyota turned into the skid and has effectively regained control, as demonstrated by monster gains in the fiscal fourth quarter. Operating income for the carmaker rose more than 500 percent from 46.1 billion yen to 238.5 billion yen from a year earlier. Net profit for the quarter was 121 billion yen, up from 25.4 billion yen. Likewise, margins improved over the course of the fiscal year, rising from -3.1 percent at the beginning to 4.2 percent at the end.

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) shares soared 3.3 percent to $80.79, up $2.62.

The company plans to pay a year-end dividend of 30 yen (37 cents) a share for a total yearly dividend of 50 yen (62 cents) a share.

Charlie Chaplin, the greatest comedian, was said to reply 'the next one,' when asked which of his films he thought was the best. I find his mindset similar to Toyota's Kaizen mentality - to always strick to create something better, Toyoda said.

The Kaizen method, long famed in industrial circles for minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency, has kept Toyota at the forefront of the automotive world for years. The company hopes to improve its margins alongside its products in the coming year as it continues its recovery from a year in which it suffered periods of hardship.