toyota. it is sounding bullish and has raised its annual net profit forecast reporting strong sales in all regions. the global shortage of semiconductors has eased and the car giant says it s on course for a record net profit this financial year of $30 billion. many car makers struggled because of a global chip shortage caused by increased demand and disrupted supply chains during the covid pandemic. toyota has also faced a safety test certification scandal at one of its major subsidiaries, daihatsu, which has led to production shutdowns at several factories. joining me now is anna marie baisden head of autos & infrastructure at fitch solutions. good to see you. when you look at the facts, the numbers and projections, it is looking very strong, but you read between the lines. tell us what we need to know. i the lines. tell us what we need to know. ~ ., , , ., the lines. tell us what we need to know. ~ . , , ., to know. i think, as you said, it is very to know. i think, a
hello there. we start here in the uk, where we are about to find out if the economy has fallen into recession that s defined as two quarters in a row of negative economic growth. we already know the uk s entire economic output, or gross domestic product, shrank in the three months to september by 0.3%. injust over an hour, we get gdp figures for october to december. anotherfall would mean the uk is officially in recession. let s talk to melanie baker, senior uk economist at royal london asset management. her group managing funds worth over £150 billion. melanie, what is your prediction? for what we will hear today? fellow consensus is for a flat figure today so the economy having stagnated and i ve pencilled in the small increase but lost the forecasters expect a small fall in output and i think either way, it s not the healthiest place for the uk economy to be. ideally, you want an economy to be growing brusquely quarter on quarter and that isjust brusquely quarter on qua
also on the show, could technology help africa grasp its agricultural potential? i will be speaking to the big boss of a company helping to spread two spread farming across that vast continent. wherever you are joining across that vast continent. wherever you arejoining me from around the world, a big hello and warm to the showstopping russia s invasion of ukraine has devastated the population, leaving tens of thousands feared dead and millions displaced, destroying lives and uprooting the very fabric of that country. and at the heart of the ukrainian economy is agriculture, and in particular, growing crops, a nation known as the breadbasket of europe, disrupting that production that production is having a dramatic effect on the global food supply, having a dramatic effect on the globalfood supply, sending global food supply, sending prices globalfood supply, sending prices through the roof. the result is some of the world s poorest countries are now paying more money for les