Toyota has forecast its first annual loss in 71 years due to falling sales and a surge in the value of the yen, reported BBC.

The Japanese carmaker said it expected a loss of 150bn yen (£1.1bn) in yearly operating profits - from its core operations.

It still expected to make a profit on a net level for the year ending March but has cut its forecast sharply to 50bn yen, down from a previous estimate of 550bn yen.

It is the second profit warning by Toyota in less than seven weeks.

The latest estimate is far lower than its net profit of 1.7 trillion yen earned the previous year.

Toyota's president Katsuaki Watanabe said that the company now expected to sell 8.96 million vehicles around the world this year, down 4% from the previous year.

He gave no goal for 2009.