Tokyo, Feb 4 - Toyota Motor Corp said Thursday that it expected to return to the black in the current financial year, which ends March 31, despite recalling millions of its cars worldwide.

The world's biggest automaker revised its full-year forecast upward for the third time, saying it expected a group net profit of 80 billion yen ($879.89 million), compared with a loss the previous year of 436.94 billion yen.

Cost-cutting efforts and strong domestic sales helped the turnaround, the company said.

Toyota also raised its annual global sales target from 7.03 million to 7.18 million units.

Toyota predicted an operating loss of 20 billion yen, compared with 461.01 billion yen the previous year, on sales of 18.5 trillion yen, down 9.9 percent.

In the April-to-December period, Toyota posted a group net profit of 97.23 billion yen, better than a profit of 328.83 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

The automaker's operating profit stood at 52.25 billion yen in the first nine months of the fiscal year, compared with a profit of 221.52 billion yen in the same period a year earlier, on sales of 13.67 trillion yen, down 19.6 percent.

The Japanese government told Toyota this week to investigate reports of faulty brakes on its Prius hybrid. The company has already recalled millions of its cars over a flaw in accelerator pedals. (dpa)