My finance view

BNP Paribas, France’s biggest bank by market capitalization, on Tuesday joined the rush to pay back governments for their financial support during the credit crisis.

The bank launched a capital increase for 4.3 billion euros ($6.30 billion) as part of its move to reimburse the French state early on its 5.1 billion euros capital advance.

BNP Paribas said the capital increase would be an underwritten rights issue with preferential subscription rights for ordinary shareholders. It added that the deal would boost its earnings per share (EPS) by around 8.4 percent.

The capital hike was set at 1 new ordinary share for 10 existing shares at a subscription price of 40 euros per share.

The subscription price represents a discount of around 29 percent to BNP’s closing share price of 56.57 euros on Monday.

“I could subscribe to the offer. It’s an attractive price,” said Agilis Gestion fund manager Arnaud Scarpaci. Scarpaci recently sold 2,500 BNP Paribas shares at around 55 euros.

BNP said it would, as of October, reimburse the 5.1 billion euros in non-voting shares subscribed to by the French state on March 31 and will make a payment of 226 million euros, calculated over the seven-month period.

The move, making the most of low rates and recovering share valuations — with the CAC-40 .FCHI blue-chip index breaking the 3,800 points index for the first time since October 2008 — will also free BNP Paribas from the state’s conditions for its financial help, including limits on bonus payments.

At 0726 GMT (3:26 a.m. EDT), BNP shares lead the gainers on the CAC 40 rising 3.2 percent while the DJ Stoxx European bank index .SX7P was up 0.6 percent.

SEEKING FREEDOM FROM GOVERNMENTS

Among European banks, Italy’s Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo are set to raise funds in an effort to keep politicians at a distance and take advantage of healthy capital markets.

Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland are also considering raising billions from equity raising or asset sales to limit the state’s stake.

Swiss bank UBS chief executive Oswald Gruebel told the Financial Times the bank also wanted to cut ties with the Swiss government by buying its way out of a bad bank deal and aimed to return to health within a year.

“BNP Paribas has increased its loan advances in France by 5.5 billion euros over the last 12 months,” BNP Paribas Chief Executive Baudouin Prot said in a statement.

BNP said the capital increase, combined with new shareholders’ equity resulting from the scrip dividend (0.75 billion euros) and a capital increase reserved for employees (0.26 billion euros), will finance the reimbursement of all the non-voting shares issued on March 31, 2009 to the Societe de Prise de Participation de l’Etat (SPPE) pursuant to the French State’s plan to support the economy. 

Read more

Planning for retirement has never been as complicated — or as important — as it is now.

Last year’s financial meltdown was the second stock market disaster of the decade. Millions of baby boomers saw their savings wither just when they were eyeing retirement.

The collapse of the stock market had much less impact on people in their 20s and 30s. They had less to lose and have plenty of time to recover. For many others, though, the decline in 401(k)s and other investment accounts will force them to make difficult choices. Many will work longer than they expected. Others will forget about buying a second home in retirement or traveling as much as they had planned.

The crash and its effect on baby boomers highlight the risks that came with the revolution in how people finance their retirement.

For decades, a company pension was the key to the good life. With a defined-benefit pension, workers contribute nothing and receive a guaranteed monthly payment, or a lump sum at the start of retirement. Since 1980, pensions have been gradually replaced by 401(k)s. These are tax-deferred savings plans in which workers, and sometimes employers, make contributions, and the retirement payoff depends on how well the money was invested.

The number of families with only a company-provided pension fell from 40 percent to 17 percent from 1992 to 2007, according to one study. Those with a 401(k)-type plan reached nearly 80 percent from 32 percent.

"We’ve moved so much of the burden of saving onto the individual worker," says Blaine Aikin, CEO of Fiduciary360, which offers advice on retirement plans. "We also expect them to be able to manage it in a situation where even the professionals were baffled."

For years, personal finance experts have urged people to take a more active role in managing investments. The meltdown has made it even more critical. Financial planners say the rules haven’t changed. They just need to be applied.

The ultimate question is how much do you need to save? For starters, think about how you plan to live. Do you want to enjoy time with family, or dart around the globe? Either way, you’ll need to budget for it.

A general rule is that you need at least 75 percent of your gross income in the years just before retirement. There are several reasons why you need less than 100 percent:

— Income taxes are lower after retirement. There are extra deductions for those over age 65, some retirement income may be tax-free and, with less income, you’ll probably be in a lower tax bracket.

— Saving for retirement is no longer necessary.

— Social Security taxes disappear.

— Clothing and commuting costs will drop. Often, a person’s mortgage is paid off by retirement. But health care costs will climb. People over age 65 spend roughly 30 percent of their income on health care, said AARP Public Policy Institute.

One way to look at retirement spending is to separate necessities from nonessentials and save for them separately, says Jean Setzfand, AARP director of financial security.

Make sure the necessities are paid for through a guaranteed income stream, such as Social Security or a pension, if you have one, she says.

The optional expenses should be paid out of invested savings, the value of which may fluctuate. This method gives you much more security meeting your basic needs. If your investments do well, you can spend more on nonessentials.

When the market falls, however, it cuts to the bottom line for retirees and those close to retiring.

People between the ages of 55 and 64 saw 20 percent of their retirement savings evaporate during the meltdown, though a six-month market rally and continued contributions have restored much of that. Still, the average 401(k) balance for this group was down 2.6 percent on Sept. 1 from a year ago.

The volatile stock market has forced many people to pay more attention to what’s in their 401(k). In February, five months into the meltdown and a month before the market hit bottom, nearly a quarter of 401(k) participants ages 56-65 had at least 90 percent of their money in stocks, according to Employee Benefits Research Institute.

The good news is that 75 percent had less. But the first group and many in the second had ignored a basic rule: Adjust your investments the closer you get to retirement.

The question for many is how to restore some of the losses. A study by asset management firm T.Rowe Price indicates that a person with a salary of $100,000 can increase retirement income from investments by as much as 28 percent by postponing retirement from 62 to 65.

Another option to increase retirement income is to delay claiming Social Security. Each year you keep working, the monthly check would increase by about 8 percent.

Still, research suggests that you have to be prepared in case your plans get derailed. Various life situations, including an aging parent, health problems or a job loss, might prevent you from working as long as you want. Although the median retirement age was 62 in the EBRI study, nearly half said they left work sooner than they had planned.

Source

The Toronto stock market closed lower yesterday and lost ground for the week, weighed down by a sell-off of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. stock after the market heavyweight delivered a disappointing earnings report.

The S&P/TSX composite index lost 73.37 points to close at 11,212.39, with market support coming from mining and consumer stocks in particular.

The TSX lost 233.56 points, or 2.04 per cent, this week amid worries about the sustainability of this year’s rally in the wake of a sharp drop in Canadian retail sales in July, a slide in American durable goods orders and news that reminded investors that a recovery in the housing sector will be difficult.

RIM shares tumbled $15.12 or 16.77 per cent to $75.04 after coming up short on expectations for revenue, new subscribers and outlook.

The Canadian dollar was 0.23 of a U.S. cent lower to 91.6 cents (U.S.)

The energy sector was ahead 0.38 per cent as oil prices rose slightly after demand concerns shaved almost $6 a barrel over the previous two sessions.

The November crude contract on the new York Mercantile Exchange was up 13 cents to $66.02 a barrel. The base metals sector was ahead 1 per cent as December copper added three cents at $2 faxless cash advance.74 a pound. The TSX Venture Exchange was up 3.28 points to 1,259.64.

New York markets were lower following more U.S. economic data that cast further doubt on the strength of an economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrials index was down 42.25 points to 9,665.19 after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods dropped 2.4 per cent in August, worse than the 0.5 per cent increase forecast.

The Nasdaq composite index was weighed down by RIM’s earnings report, falling 16.69 points to 2,090.92, while the S&P 500 index declined 6.4 points to 1,044.38.

The December gold contract on the Nymex declined $7.30 to $991.60 an ounce, taking the gold sector down 0.76 per cent. On the TSX, Goldcorp Inc. faded 90 cents to $42.05.

Strength came from the consumer staples sector, with Shoppers Drug Mart up 64 cents (Canadian) to $44.20 and Alimentation Couche Tard Inc. 67 cents higher at $19.30.

The financial sector was flat but Scotiabank ran ahead 61 cents to $47.69.

The Canadian Press

Source

Large Cadbury investors are worried Chief Executive Todd Stitzer may overplay his hand in fending off Kraft’s $10 billion offer, with no white knight in sight to spark a bidding war.

The U.S. firm’s current 745 pence-per share offer was “unacceptable,” shareholders contacted by Reuters said, but a bid of more than 900 pence mentioned by analysts seemed unlikely because of the lack of any rival bidders.

“It’s a bit dangerous to get too greedy because they haven’t got any competitive tension and there is a risk that they fail if they get too aggressive,” said one UK-based top 25 investor in Cadbury, who declined to be named.

“No-one is going to accept the current bid and we believe Kraft will pay more — I am not sure that Kraft would want to pay that much (900 pence). Above 8 pounds would be the killing zone,” he said.

Smaller Kraft shareholders said they expected the company to raise its offer, and that a 10-15 percent increase would be acceptable, raising the bid to around 850 pence.

Stitzer spent Thursday telling a fair trade retail conference about the “principled capitalism” he feared was at risk from over-leveraged dealmakers, according to media reports, though he did not refer directly to Kraft.

He also harked back to Cadbury’s heritage: the company was founded by a family of Quakers who wanted to wean people away from alcohol and make them drink chocolate instead.

The robust public stance came after Stitzer detailed potential benefits from a takeover, with his comments leading to some speculation that Cadbury would see a price of 900 pence as fair and that it was leaving the door ajar to Kraft.

A Cadbury spokesman said after Stitzer’s comments that they were theoretical and did not signal a shift in the company’s position.

Cadbury shares traded up 0.5 percent at 798 pence by 1241 GMT, outpacing a 0.2-percent rise in the FTSE 100. The shares were at 568 pence before the offer was made.

A UK-based top 35 investor in Cadbury said: “The worry for us is that they will overplay their hand and completely scupper a bid and then we will be left with a share price that is rather too high for the ordinary operating business.”

SHAREHOLDER SHIFT

Cadbury is clearly proud of its heritage — its telephone hold music is a nostalgic compendium of advertising jingles — but its ownership has undergone a huge shift over the decades.

It was a family firm for more than a century, and family members still hold stakes, but its main investors are now the large institutions which dominate the corporate landscape, and with an increasingly North American flavor.

Data from Thomson Reuters show the confectioner is largely split between 153 UK investors and 134 from the United States, equating to percentage holdings of 40.5 and 22.6 respectively. 

Read more

To work force trainer Dan Andrews, the plans for a new Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 headquarters represent a logical extension of the heating and air conditioning industry’s commitment to sustainable energy.

The union, which represents workers in the heating and air conditioning industry, announced plans this week to renovate and move into a former manufacturing plant at the intersection of Chouteau and Jefferson avenues in south St. Louis late next year.

Upon completion, the $15 million headquarters will draw a portion its power from solar panels and windmills and use some recycled rainwater to flush toilets.

Part of the building’s roof will be covered with vegetation.

Andrews said the building — once the home of Missouri Boiler — will showcase what the heating and air conditioning industry has long preached about energy efficiency.

"If you look close enough, we’ve been doing this a long time," said Andrews, recalling his first training in the installation of low energy heating and air conditioning systems nearly 30 years ago. "But we never really looked at it as green."

The 50,000 square feet set aside for instruction at Local 36’s new headquarters, Andrews said, will take training to the next step with large "mock-ups" of the intricate heating and a/c systems used in today’s homes and offices.

The new training facility, he added, will also emphasize the processes heating and a/c specialists have adopted to audit home and office energy use.

Local 36 represents 3,200 sheet metal workers.

Source

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it planned to restore about 3,000 jobs at U.S. assembly plants and related facilities and is getting set to raise North American production by up to 45 percent next year.

GM said it would add shifts at three assembly plants as the automaker consolidates production from plants that are closing or retooling, a process that would not add immediately to its production schedule for 2009.

But GM expects to increase North American production to about 2.8 million vehicles in 2010, up about 40 percent to 45 percent from 2009. GM had sharply curtailed North American production around its government-guided reorganization.

GM said it would add shifts at three U.S. assembly plants next year, restoring 2,400 jobs, and expected to restore 600 jobs at related facilities across the United States that produce engines, transmissions, stampings and castings.

The addition of shifts at plants in Kansas, Indiana and Michigan comes at a time when U.S. auto industry sales are thought to have hit bottom and manufacturers are raising production to restore depleted vehicle inventories.

U.S. dealer inventories were trimmed sharply after the federal government’s “cash for clunkers” program lifted sales in July and August with incentives of up to $4,500 to turn in gas-guzzling vehicles and buy new more fuel-efficient models.

GM has been addressing severely low inventories resulting from a combination of the “clunkers” program that ran from late July through the first three weeks of August and production cutbacks around its government-funded reorganization.

Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales, said U.S. auto sales for GM and the industry have been slow, a situation expected with the end of the “clunkers” program.

“Our year-over-year comps will be difficult on both the fleet and retail side, but both accounts will get better beginning in October right through the fourth quarter,” LaNeve said.

GM said it would add a shift at its assembly plant in Fairfax, Kansas, in January. Fairfax will become the sole builder of the Chevrolet Malibu sedan when GM ends production in Orion, Michigan, to retool that plant for a new small car.

In April, GM plans to add a shift of heavy-duty pickup production in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company is closing its Pontiac, Michigan, plant at the end of September.

GM also plans to add production of the Chevrolet Traverse SUV at its Lansing Delta Township, Michigan, plant in April. Production of the Traverse at GM’s plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, will end in November, and that plant will be put on standby status.

GM will draw from its pool of laid off workers first to fill the positions and expects virtually all of the spots to be filled by workers now on layoff or who would be subject to layoff once other plants are idled, executives said.

Earlier in September, GM said it expected to build 535,000 vehicles in North America in the third quarter and 655,000 in the fourth quarter, down about 20 percent from a year ago.

GM expects U.S. auto industry sales of about 10.5 million vehicles in 2009, down from about 13.2 million last year. It expects U.S. auto industry sales of 11.5 million to 12 million in 2010.

(Reporting by David Bailey and Bernie Woodall; editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Andre Grenon)

Read more

DuPont Co Chairman Charles Holliday will likely be added to Bank of America Corp’s board of directors at a meeting on Monday, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the situation.

The board will also be briefed on options if the bank’s chief executive Kenneth Lewis is charged with civil fraud, according to the paper.

Last week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed five current or former Bank of America directors to learn what they knew about Merrill Lynch & Co’s problems as the companies prepared to merge. ID: nN16137315

Cuomo has threatened to sue Bank of America officers, perhaps including Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis, and its lawyers over a lack of disclosures about the merger, which shareholders approved last December 5 and which closed on January 1 allied insurance.

The bank’s directors were not surprised by any of the allegations made by Cuomo’s office and back Lewis, the Journal said, citing the person familiar with the matter.

Bank of America and DuPont could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Read more

More than a year before stock markets crashed in the fall of 2008, Paul Dau noticed a steep drop in the number of customers entering his furniture store on Manchester Road in Ellisville.

Instead of whole-room makeovers, they might buy a few pieces of furniture. As time went on, even those purchases dwindled.

By the end of 2008, sales were off 18 percent. As 2009 started, the numbers got worse.

"There were evenings I didn’t sleep well," said Dau. As the fourth-generation of his family to run Dau Home Furnishings, he determined long ago not to see it close on his watch.
He cut his own pay. Then did it again. And once more in April.

"You do what you have to do,” he said.

But increased traffic and sales in the past few months are raising the optimism of some furnishings dealers, including Dau, who thinks he might soon be able to restore at least part of his salary.

"I do feel confident that we’ve bottomed out and we’re turning," he said.

It’s been a dreary decade for the home decor business.

"Ever since 9/11, it’s been in a spiral," said Jackie Hirschhaut, vice president of marketing for the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the nation’s largest trade association for furniture manufacturers.

Then came last year’s market meltdown.

People put off purchases and delayed projects. Nationally, sales by furniture and home furnishing stores totaled $7.7 billion in June, down more than 10 percent from last year and almost 20 percent from June 2007.

"For many mainstream consumers there’s just a lot of uncertainty," Hirschhaut said. "They may be working now, but there are no guarantees."

Changing customer habits forced many businesses to find new strategies to survive.

In addition to his pay cuts, Dau trimmed inventory by almost 20 percent, slashed advertising by nearly a third and reviewed every contract, from building maintenance to snow removal. Because he didn’t want to cut his 18-member staff, Dau used warehouse employees instead of contractors to trim bushes, wash windows and perform other duties. He cut back some full-time positions to part-time jobs and didn’t replace two employees who left.

"What hits you most is concern for all these families," he said of his employees. "They need their incomes to run their households. That’s the scary thing weighing on you."

Brook Dubman, who owns Carol House Furniture stores in Valley Park and Maryland Heights, said that despite a small decline in traffic and sales in the wake of the recession he’d also avoided laying off any of the company’s 140 employees.

"We didn’t change the way we did anything,” he said. "I think that helped us do better."

Customers often linger longer over decisions to buy and make smaller purchases, but Dubman said that traffic and sales in August were up substantially over last year and that September started off well.

"Our Labor Day weekend was gang busters,” Dubman said. "I’m pretty optimistic that we will be consistently better."

If not for his wealthier clients, Alan Richardson wonders if he’d still be in business instant payday loan.

The owner of English Living, situated on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis, said that since the first of the year the entry-level home buyers and younger home owners who used to be a substantial part of his customer base have all but disappeared.

"The only thing that kept us going well through that was the high-end … very-upscale clients … that are spending a lot of money on their home," Richardson said. "They were our biggest contributors through some pretty tough times."

Although he said sales were "exceptionally slow" in July and August, Richardson saw an increase in traffic that has translated into sales in September.

"In the first ten days of this month we did as much as we did in all of July, and that’s unusual," Richardson said.

But he’s not ready to declare the dark days over.

"We’ve had slow downs before," he said. "The strange thing about this one is you’ll have days you think it’s starting to turn and then it all stops again."

Bruce Bernstein bought a 39-year-old company a few months before the 2008 crash. He immediately sought to re-brand Sunshine Drapery and Interior Design as up to date and offering the highest-quality products.

While still offering sales, the company eliminated the 85 percent discounts the previous owners promoted. Bernstein also updated what he called the company’s "industrial looking" website and reached agreement with a furniture chain to allow Sunshine displays in their stores and to refer business to each other.

He trimmed his fabric inventory, cut hours and laid off and brought back some of his 60 or so employees as the sewing workload required.

Sales the last three months are running about two percent ahead of last year, he said.

"If I had continued on the same route as the previous owner … I don’t know if we would be getting the same business,” he said.

Not everyone struggled through the downturn.

In Belleville, Mueller Furniture Company saw a double-digit increase in sales last year and is on pace to do the same this year.

Owner Lynwood Mueller credited Scott Air Force Base, two nearby hospitals and area school districts, among others, for providing a steady supply of customers. Mueller said much of his merchandise was American made, a point the store emphasizes in its marketing. "People seem to respond to that," he said.

Mueller said that if anything, he’d increased his advertising and promotion in the recent downturn and emphasized customer service. "When times are tough, I think people appreciate that more," he said.

It has helped the family business endure difficult days in the past. Mueller’s grandfather opened the store just two years before the stock market crashed in 1929 and plunged the country into the Great Depression. When the younger Mueller entered the business in the mid-1970s, Belleville was home to 11 furniture stores, he said. One moved. The others closed.

"We’re a survivor," he said.

Source

HERCULANEUM — Local officials have eyed more than 70 undeveloped acres along busy Interstate 55 for the past several years, dreaming about the possibilities.

They hope to learn soon if those possibilities will become reality.

Two brothers, Curtis and Clayton Francois of St. Louis County, are partners in Herculaneum Development Co., which owns that prime undeveloped acreage near the northeast quadrant of the interchange of I-55 and McNutt Street.

They plan to develop the wooded site, which is just north and northeast of the current Herculaneum Hilltop Plaza, a commercial development of small stores.

The Francois brothers have been working for two years in a rugged economy to find stores, restaurants, and hotels or motels wanting to build along the growing Herculaneum I-55 corridor, about 30 miles south of St. Louis.

"There is pent-up demand to build," Curtis Francois said this week.

"We have more than 70 acres ready to be developed," he added. "It’s an ambitious project, but everybody involved with it thinks it’s got great potential."

Even so, Francois said that although more and more businesses have been making inquiries lately, he wasn’t ready to announce any tenants or potential tenants for the site.

"There’s nothing imminent yet," he said. "There’s been real pressure in the real estate sector, but we feel things will turn around soon, and we have a great location at Herculaneum."

Herculaneum Development Co. was given the go-ahead by the Board of Aldermen in 2007 to develop the site.

Officials blame the lack of progress since then on the poor economy.

In July 2007, the Board of Aldermen reactivated Herculaneum’s Tax Increment Financing Commission to help the Francois brothers. The brothers had just completed buying all parcels in the development site for a total of about $700,000.

In TIF financing, the new tax revenue generated by a development is used to help pay for the infrastructure and other improvements within the project boundaries.

Herculaneum City Administrator Jim Kasten said he would like the development along I-55 to include a "big box" anchor store, several smaller shops, three or more restaurants and at least two hotels or motels.

"Hotels, in my mind, bring people in off the road," Kasten said.

And the more I-55 travelers who stop at Herculaneum, the more revenue the city will get through its sales tax, he said.

He said the Francois brothers made a commitment in their TIF agreement with the city to level the development site and build retaining walls there as needed.

The city, in turn, will make road improvements for access to the site, Kasten said.

The Francois brothers have completed a year of their three-year TIF agreement with the city to start developing the site, Kasten said. The developers will have five years to finish the project after it has started, he said.

Kasten described the Francois brothers as "cautiously optimistic" that tenants would be found and work on the project could begin within a year or so.

Kasten and Curtis Francois both said they didn’t view the development plans as competing with I-55 corridor development proposals at nearby Pevely — just one interstate exit to the north of Herculaneum.

In Pevely, officials hope to put new commercial businesses around the I-55 and Highway Z interchange. Ready for development at Pevely are 36 acres at the northeast quadrant of that busy interchange, 11 acres at the southwest quadrant and 9 acres at the southeast quadrant.

Pevely officials have said they want a mix of retail stores, a large grocery and restaurants at their I-55 interchange.

Francois said the plans for Herculaneum are on a much larger scale than those for Pevely, and that the two communities weren’t seeking the same tenants.

"My thought is that whatever brings business in, off the interstate, is good for all of us," Kasten said.

Source

NEW YORK–Toyota Motor Corp. will pour $1 billion into a major U.S. marketing campaign in the fourth quarter, as the Japanese automaker bets on a recovery in the ailing auto market here.

The sum is "more than we've spent before" in the period, spokesman Irv Miller said. The fourth quarter is typically a strong sales season for automakers, who often launch big end-of-the-year promotions to drum up sales of new model-year vehicles. Toyota rolls out its "Toyotathon" marketing and sales blitz in November.

"We see the economy is starting to strengthen a bit," Miller said. "We've stopped playing defense. It's time to go on the offense.''

The marketing push, which Toyota unveiled to dealers at a Las Vegas convention on Tuesday, comes a week after General Motors Co. announced its own new campaign. GM's effort features TV ads starring Chairman Ed Whitacre and a 60-day money-back guarantee program designed to draw skittish consumers back to its vehicles.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has been pummeled by the worldwide downturn and posted its first-ever loss for the fiscal year ended in March. It expects a second consecutive loss in the current fiscal year.

The automaker has responded with aggressive cost cutting efforts and a renewed push to sell more green cars like the Prius hybrid. Toyota rolled out a redesigned Prius earlier this year and the car remains the top-selling hybrid in the U personal loans for people with bad credit.S.

A future challenge for Toyota, however, could come from the fast-growing Chinese auto industry. On Thursday, the Chinese battery and automaker BYD Co. set its sights high by saying it plans to unseat Toyota as the world's largest automaker in under two decades.

Toyota's sales in the U.S., the world's biggest vehicle market, rose 6.4 percent in August, helped in large part by the government's Cash for Clunkers program. Toyota was the top-selling automaker under the program, helped by sales of fuel-efficient vehicles like the Corolla and the Prius. Its sales remain down 29 percent through the first eight months of the year.

Miller said Toyota's inventory remains tight, particularly for the automaker's fuel-efficient vehicles. Additional production increases are planned through the remainder of the year to boost supply at dealerships, he said, many of which are struggling to come up with vehicles to sell after Clunkers.

Toyota's namesake division had 12 days supply of vehicles as of Thursday, Miller said. The Prius had only 4 days supply while the RAV-4 crossover had 9 days supply. Typically, Toyota aims for between 30 and 45 days supply of vehicles, Miller said.

U.S.-traded shares of Toyota rose 44 cents in midday trading Thursday to $82.90.

Source