“Our operating income for the first half of this fiscal year was ¥2.2 trillion. Through swift responses to changes in the external environment, including the situation in the Middle East, we mitigated the impact on earnings. Vehicle sales, mainly driven by hybrids, increased steadily, supported by strong demand,” said Chief Accounting Officer Takanori Azuma.

“We have revised our full-year operating income forecast upward by ¥500 billion from our previous forecast to ¥3,900,000,000,000. Despite the impact of rising material prices and production disruption caused by earthquakes and floods, we expect to maintain consolidated vehicle sales through recovery efforts at our production sites and optimize global supply. In addition, to reduce tariff-related costs through the accumulation of improvement efforts, including the expansion of value chain earnings, we expect year-on-year profit growth and have revised our forecast upward. As for shareholder returns, consistent with our policy to increase dividends in a stable and continuous manner, the interim dividend is set at ¥50 per share, and the full-year dividend forecast is ¥100 per share,” said Azuma.