How Companies Manage Their Foreign Exchange Risk

Toyota Motor Corporation is the world's third largest automaker. It was established in Japan on 28 August 1937. Apart from its 12 plants in Japan, Toyota has 54 manufacturing companies in 27 countries, employs 246700 people and markets vehicles in more than 160 countries. Its capital as at March 2002 was 397 billion yen.
Toyota is exposed to the fluctuation in foreign currency exchange as it operates mainly in America, Continental Europe and Britain. It is therefore affected by the fluctuation in the value of the US dollar, the Euro and to a lesser extent the British pound. Toyota's consolidated financial statements, which are presented in the Japanese yen, are affected by the foreign exchange fluctuation, as all the amounts in the various countries' currencies have to be translated into yen. Toyota's primary markets based on unit sales for vehicles for financial year ended March 31 2002 were Japan (40%), North America (32%) and Europe (13%). Toyota is listed on the London, New York and Tokyo stock exchanges.
In the normal course of doing business, Toyota employs derivatives financial instruments, including forward contracts and foreign currency options to manage its exposure to fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rates. Toyota does not use derivatives for speculation and trading. …