Toyota profits drop 77 percent in quarter

TOYOTA CITY, Japan, May 11 (UPI) -- Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday quarterly profits fell 77 percent due to the massive earthquake that shook Japan March 11.

The 9-magnitude quake struck three weeks before the end of the company's fiscal fourth quarter.

Analysts said the earthquake, the tsunami that followed and the subsequent nuclear power plant crisis would have a far greater impact on the company's next quarterly report, which covers three months beginning April 1, The New York Times reported.

Earnings in the quarter just ended fell to $314 million, down from $1.38 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

Under normal times, Toyota would be expected to maintain its ranking as the world's largest automaker, given the price of gas in the United States is rising and the Japanese automaker is known for its fuel-efficient fleet of cars.

"With gas prices as high as they are -- almost $4 per gallon -- Toyota should be in a prime spot to win market share, but the supply simply isn't there," said Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analysis at automotive market research firm Edmunds.com.

Toyota said it would continue to operate its plants at 50 percent of capacity in Japan and at 30 percent at its overseas plants until June 3. At that point, production would rise to 70 percent of the pre-earthquake level, the Times said.