Operating Summary The Company reported net income of $225 million and $594 million during the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004, respectively, compared with net income of $228 million and $501 million for the same periods in the prior year. Financial results for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004 were affected by higher financing revenues and lower provision for credit losses, partially offset by higher funding costs and lower investment income. The volume of new contracts purchased primarily from Toyota and Lexus vehicle dealers remained relatively constant at 225,000 and 741,000 contracts during the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004, compared to 219,000 and 737,000 during the three and nine months ended December 31, 2003, respectively. The Company’s consumer retail and lease finance market share of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, excluding fleet sales and sales of an independent distributor, decreased from 42.4% and 45.8% for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2003 to 39.9% and 43.5% for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004, respectively. While contract volume remained level and overall market share declined, earning assets continued to increase due to new vehicle contract volume exceeding liquidations during the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004, as well as the effect of a reduction in securitization activity during the last and current fiscal years. The Company did not execute any securitization transactions during the nine months ended December 31, 2004, compared to one such transaction during the comparable prior year period. Total interest expense increased $46 million or 52% and $23 million or 6% during the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004, respectively, when compared to the same periods in the prior year. These increases resulted primarily from higher interest rates and higher outstanding debt balances and a decrease in derivative fair value adjustments. During the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004, financing revenues increased $84 million or 9% and $150 million or 5% when compared to the same periods in the prior year due to the increase in earning assets, partially offset by a general decline in the earnings rate, or portfolio yield, on the Company’s earning assets. The decline in the earnings rate resulted from declines in market interest rates, the continuing liquidation of higher yielding earning assets, and the impact of competitive pricing pressure. The Company continued to experience an improvement in net charge-offs during the three and nine months ended December 31, 2004 due to current favorable economic trends and operational and technological efficiencies and processes implemented during fiscal 2004, including the implementation of new tools and technology to measure and monitor performance, the strategic outsourcing of certain functions, the development of enhanced training for customer service center (“CSC”) field associates, and technology initiatives and strategies that enhanced collections productivity. The allowance for credit losses as a percentage of gross earning assets declined from 1.29s% at December 31, 2003 to 1.07% at December 31, 2004. Overall, the Company increased its capital position by $553 million bringing total equity to $4,116 million at December 31, 2004. The Company’s debt-to-equity position decreased from 10.3 at March 31, 2004 to 9.9 at December 31, 2004. Business Outlook The Company’s fiscal 2005 results will continue to be influenced by the level of new vehicle retail and lease contract volume, the continued use of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (“TMS”) subvention support and the level of competitive pricing pressure. During the last several fiscal years the Company reduced its reliance on vehicle lease financing programs and focused primarily on retail financing programs. In light of recent trends indicating potential improvements in the vehicle lease market, including stabilized used vehicle prices and rising market interest rates, the Company has placed new emphasis on increasing lease contract volume. The Company expects lease contract volume to continue to increase in the near term. |