Driving through a bumpy economy, Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor has skidded into a net loss of 164.7 billion yen (about $1.80 billion) for the December quarter and warned of crashing into a full-year operating loss in 71 years.
Moreover, S&P has lowered the long-term credit rating of Toyota to 'AA+' from 'AAA' and has given a 'negative' rating outlook.
As plunging sales and soaring yen continues to take a toll, the auto giant now expects to record an operating loss of 450 billion yen for the financial year ending March 31, 2009. The forecast is much higher than the December estimate of 150 billion yen.
Toyota, which has revised its forecast for the third time in three months, would be posting an operating loss for the first time since 1938.
In November 2008, the auto maker had projected an operating income of 600 billion yen for the fiscal year 2009.
The car maker today reported a net loss of 164.7 billion yen for the third quarter as compared to a net profit of 458.6 billion yen in the year-ago period, it said in a statement.
For the third quarter ended December 31, 2008, Toyota's net revenue declined 28.4 per cent to 4.8 trillion yen.