Dividend.com: Toyota Stalls Out

Toyota Reports $7.7 Billion Quarterly Loss, Slashes Dividend 29%

Japanese automaker Toyota(TM Quote) said Friday that it lost a massive $7.7 billion in the latest quarter, which sent the company to its worst yearly loss in its 77-year history.

The Tokyo-based company reported a fiscal fourth quarter loss of $7.7 billion, compared to a net profit of $316.8 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected a slightly smaller quarterly loss.

For full-year 2009 the company said it lost 437 billion yen or $4.4 billion on net revenue of 20.53 trillion yen. Back in fiscal 2008, the company saw a net profit of 1.72 trillion yen on revenue of 26.29 trillion yen. On average, Wall Street analysts had expected a much smaller full-year loss of 350 billion yen.

Toyota said that vehicle sales were down 22% from the previous year, as consumer spending dropped sharply amid the global economic recession.

To preserve its cash position, the company said it would slash its dividend payout by 29% to 100 yen per share or about $2 down from 140 yen or about $2.80 per share last year. Toyota pays a dividend once every six months.

The company also warned that the sales slowdown would continue well into 2010, saying it expects to sell 6.5 million units in the current fiscal year, down 1.06 million units from the just-completed fiscal year. Toyota is forecasting a net loss of 550 billion yen for the year and an operating loss of 850 billion yen. Toyota shares fell $2.33 or 2.9% in Friday morning trading.