EARNINGS : Toyota Profits Race Ahead 18%

Toyota Motor Corp. said today that its profits and sales raced ahead in the year ended in June, but some analysts forecast that Japan’s biggest auto maker is unlikely to enjoy the same growth this year.

Toyota’s net profit surged 18%, to $2.5 billion, in the year that ended June 30, while the parent company’s net rose 27.4%, to $3.1 billion.

For the year, car unit sales grew 11.3%, while group sales surged 14.6%.

“The results were excellent,” said Ben Moyer, car analyst at Merrill Lynch Japan. “I think they will continue to be fairly good, although not as good as this year.”

The powerful business performance stems from a combination of a rich product mix, high production, aggressive marketing, strong distribution, a weaker yen and bigger profits at overseas manufacturing subsidiaries, analysts said.