Rising US sales nudge Toyota's quarterly profit higher by 4.7%

Toyota Motor Company's quarterly profit rose 4.7% on the back of rising sales in the US.

In a filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, the Japanese auto giant posted a JPY627.9bn (£3.7bn) profit for the final three months of 2015, up from JPY600bn noted over the corresponding quarter last year.

Toyota’s sales for the quarter rose 2% to JPY7.3trn. As a consequence, the company updated its annual profit forecast to JPY2.27trn from JPY2.25trn.

On Friday, Toyota also announced a share buyback of about JPY150bn worth of outstanding shares.

Recently, it won back the crown of the world's largest carmaker by sales in the first nine months 2015 from Germany's Volkswagen.