(August 5, 2015) TOKYO — Toyota has reported a third straight year of record profit for its first quarter as cost cuts and currency gains made up for slightly weaker vehicle sales. April-June net profit jumped 10 percent to 646.39 billion yen ($5.22 billion). Operating profit rose 9.1 percent to 756 billion yen on revenue that grew 9.3 percent, Toyota said in an earnings release.

Toyota's sales growth continued to be held back by a self-imposed halt on increasing production capacity aimed at preventing quality problems. Toyota's global retail sales slipped 0.4 percent to 2.502 million vehicles during the quarter.

Sales in China, the world's biggest auto market, have been hit by intensifying price competition, especially for the RAV4 SUV as automakers seek to capitalize on the popularity of SUVs. Toyota's sales with its Chinese joint ventures declined 0.1 percent in January-March.

The Japanese automaker left its net profit forecast for the year ending March unchanged at 2.25 trillion yen, and raised its revenue guidance slightly to reflect higher-than-expected currency gains.

Sources: Toyota, Reuters News Service