Toyota's operating profit for the October-to-December period dropped 39.3% from a year earlier to 438.5 billion yen (3.9 billion dollars) due to the rising yen and weak sales in North America, the company said on Monday. 
Japan's largest carmaker also posted a net profit of 486.5 billion yen for the fiscal third quarter, down 22.5% from the same period in 2015, while sales fell 3.5% to 7.08 trillion yen. 
Toyota saw its sales in North America, its biggest market, decline 5.1% from a year earlier to 2.71 trillion yen for the October-to-December period, while those in Asia fell 7.3% to 1.26 trillion yen. 
Toyota, however, raised its operating profit forecast for the current financial year through March to 1.85 trillion yen, from its previous estimate of 1.7 trillion predicted in November, due to the yen's recent fall against major currencies. 
The carmaker also lifted its net profit outlook to 1.7 trillion yen for the year, up from 1.55 trillion yen estimated three months ago, while sales are estimated at 26.5 trillion yen, up from 26 trillion yen.