Toyota’s profit slipped nearly 6% last quarter, highlighting the headwinds car manufacturers are facing in a computer chips crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Japanese car giant’s profit for the three months to December totalled 791.7 billion yen (£5.1 billion), down from 838.7 billion yen (£5.4 billion) the previous year.

Quarterly sales slipped 5% to 7.2 trillion yen (£46 billion).

Toyota officials acknowledged that the chips problem could continue in the next financial year.

Toyota sold 2.5 million vehicles around the world during its third quarter, down from 2.8 million vehicles the same period a year ago.

It lowered its full-year sales forecast to 8.25 million vehicles from an earlier 8.55 million vehicles.

Nevertheless that figure is better than the 7.6 million vehicles Toyota sold last financial year, when sales were painfully battered by the pandemic.

When including group manufacturers such as Daihatsu, which makes small cars, and truck maker Hino, Toyota expects retail sales of 10.29 million vehicles for the year, up from 9.9 million vehicles in the previous 12 months.

The maker of the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury brand kept its full-year profit forecast unchanged at 2.49 trillion yen (£15.9 billion).

Toyota recorded a 2.2 trillion yen (£14 billion) profit the previous year.

The company said a favourable exchange rate had helped its latest earnings, while cost reduction efforts and marketing costs dragged on profitability.

The company apologised for the production delays caused by the shortage of chips and other parts because of production issues caused by Covid-19 measures.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers who have to wait a long time until delivery, but we will continue to make improvements through ‘All-Toyota’ together with our dealers and suppliers,” it said in a statement.