Toyota posts profit surge and lifts annual outlook

TOKYO — Toyota on Thursday booked its first profit gain in six quarters and lifted its annual outlook by 15 percent, as a weaker yen and robust demand for higher-margin hybrid vehicles offset a slide in sales in China and the Middle East. The results, which helped send Toyota’s shares soaring in Tokyo trade, were the latest sign that the automaker’s strategy of focusing on hybrids was paying off. The world’s largest automaker said it expects operating profit of 3.9 trillion yen ($24.6 billion) for the year ending March after posting a forecast-beating 34-percent climb in income for the July-September…