Toyota reports 461 bln yen operating loss in FY 2008

Stocks of new Toyota cars are parked in a lot in Onnaing's Toyota plant near Valenciennes, northern France, April 17, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters FilePhoto)
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TOKYO, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Toyota on Friday reported a consolidated operating loss of 461.01 billion yen (4.66 billion U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2008 ending March 31, the first operating loss in 71 years.

As car sales are still on the decrease amid the
global financial crisis, the largest Japanese automaker projected an operating
loss of 850 billion yen (8.59 billion dollars) in fiscal 2009.

Meanwhile, Toyota also registered a group net loss of
436.94 billion yen (4.41 billion dollars) in fiscal 2008, compared with a
record-high profit of 1.72 trillion yen (17.37 billion dollars) for the previous
fiscal year.

For fiscal 2009, Toyota, which overtook General
Motors as the world's largest automaker in 2008, predicted a group net loss of
550 billion yen (5.55 billion dollars) on sales of 16.5 trillion yen (166.67
billion dollars).

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China warns enterprises against fiscal risks after CITIC Pacific scandal

BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) urged
Chinese enterprises to conduct better fiscal management Monday to fend off risks
amid the worsening global economic environment.

Chinese companies are facing higher investment risks, declining asset
quality and heavier fiscal burdens, according to a circular issued by the MOF.

The circular came after the Hong Kong-listed state-run conglomerate CITIC
Pacific announced a top-management reshuffle last week amid probes of its
reported huge losses from wrong bets on foreign exchanges last year.

Investment in financial derivatives such as hedging should be conducted
prudently and speculative acts are forbidden, said the MOF.

It told Chinese firms to carry forward with mergers and acquisitions in an
active and safe way and avoid unnecessary losses from blind expansion.

Enterprises were also required to strengthen cost control, ensure enough
cash liquidity and make efforts to reduce excessive inventories.

The MOF's circular echoed a February government announcement to launch a
special examination on major investment projects and mergers of
centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to prevent fiscal risks.

The 2008 profits of Chinese SOEs under direct central government control
recorded the first annual decline since 2002, falling more than 30 percent year
on year to 665.29 billion yuan (97.2 billion U.S. dollars).

While the global financial crisis took a toll on the SOE profits, loose
fiscal management also contributed to the profit slump, Meng Jianmin, deputy
chief of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
(SASAC), told a conference in February.

Management problems included too heavy debt burdens due to excessive
expansion and losses from speculative investment in derivatives, said Meng.

In a recent case in the spotlight, CITIC Pacific, a Hong Kong affiliate of
the Beijing-based centrally-owned CITIC Group, announced last Wednesday the
resignation of both the company's founding chairman Larry Yung Chi Kin and
managing director Henry Fan Hung Ling, amid an official probe into its currency
loss scandal.

The CITIC Pacific disclosed in October potential losses may exceed 15
billion HK dollars (1.9 billion U.S. dollars) from unauthorized hedging by
senior financial managers against changes in the exchange rates of foreign
currencies, notably the Australian dollar.

China's fiscal revenue down 0.3% in March

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BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Monday that fiscal revenue fell 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 440.22 billion yuan (64.43 billion U.S. dollars) in March.

First-quarter fiscal revenue fell 8.3 percent to 1.46 trillion yuan, the ministry said on its website, while tax revenue shrank 10.3 percent to 1.3 trillion yuan.

Fiscal revenue includes taxes as well as administrative fees and other government income, such as fines and income from government-owned assets.

Business profits shrank as economic growth slowed, the MOF said, and tax cuts intended to spur the economy and the financial markets reduced government revenues. First-quarter business income tax revenue fell 16.7 percent.

China halved the purchase tax on cars with engine displacements of less than 1.6 liters on Jan. 20, and revenue from that tax was down 7.6 percent in the first quarter.

To shore up the stock market, the government cut the share trading stamp tax from 0.3 percent to 0.1 percent last April and scrapped the stamp tax on stock purchases in September. And even though the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index is up more than 35 percent so far this year, the tax cuts on share transactions meant a decline of 86.2 percent in revenue from that category in the first quarter.

Actual revenue amounts in each category were not released.

Customs tariff revenue fell 23.9 percent during the first quarter, the MOF said, without giving further details.

Central government fiscal revenue fell 17.7 percent in the first quarter to 721.3 billion yuan, while local government fiscal revenue rose 3 percent to 742.9 billion yuan.

First-quarter fiscal expenditures surged 34.8 percent to 1.28 trillion yuan, as both the central and local governments adopted a proactive fiscal stance to boost the economy and domestic demand.

China unveiled a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package in November to be spent over in next two years, with 1.18 trillion yuan from the central government.

Fiscal revenue exceeded 6.13 trillion yuan in 2008, up 19.5 percent.