Weak yen doubles Toyota’s profit to $17.8b

A weakness in the yen, together with cos-cuttings have nearly doubled Japanese car-maker Toyota’s profits.

The company reported a net profit of $17.8 billion or 1.82 trillion yen, for the first quarter, up from 962 billion yen a year ago.

The Japanese firms that rely on exports for profit increase have only had to gain from the recent yen weakness as this helps them increase their profits when they repatriate their overseas earnings.

The yen fell behind the dollar by nearly 18% since 2013 due to aggressive policy measures taken by the government.

For Toyota, the world’s biggest car-maker, that meant the yen weakness rocketed its profits by nearly 900 billion yen in the past year.