Isuzu Motors Ltd. reported a 16 percent decline in profit during the April-June quarter after a stronger yen and higher costs of materials cut earnings.
Net income fell to ¥17.7 billion in the three months to June 30 from ¥21.2 billion a year earlier, Japan's largest maker of light-duty trucks said Monday. Sales rose 3.2 percent to ¥415 billion.
Isuzu follows Hino Motors Ltd. in reporting lower profits as higher steel prices eroded sales gains in the Middle East and Africa. The yen also gained 16 percent against the dollar last quarter, reducing the value of overseas sales.
"The negative impact of the currency and rising costs surpassed strong demand in resource-exporting countries," said Chikashi Okabe, a truck analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo.
Isuzu increased sales 45 percent in the Middle East and Africa in the last quarter to 16,000 units. Sales in Central and South America rose by half to 9,000 vehicles from a year ago.
In contrast, sales in Japan sank 11 percent to 16,000 and North American sales plummeted 80 percent to 1,000 units.
To cope with rising costs, Isuzu will raise the price of trucks sold in Japan by as much as ¥350,000 and charge as much as ¥500,000 more for buses starting Sept. 1, it said.
The truck maker reiterated its full-year net income forecast of ¥85 billion.
Isuzu raised its cost prediction for steel, aluminum, rubber and other raw materials to "below ¥30 billion," spokesman Tadashi Ioka said. An earlier forecast called for ¥24 billion this business year.