UPDATE 1-Toyota likely logged 09/10 operating profit

* Operating profit seen as high as 50 bln yen - Nikkei

* Consensus op profit f'cast 42.4 bln yen - I/B/E/S (Adds detail, consensus forecasts)

TOKYO, April 24 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is expected to have posted a group operating profit of as high as 50 billion yen ($532 million) for the year that ended on March 31, Japan's business daily Nikkei reported on Saturday.

The world's biggest automaker, under pressure after a series of recalls and incidents that tarnished its once market-leading reputation for quality, would beat its forecast of a 20 billion yen loss, thanks to a weaker yen and its cost-cutting efforts, the newspaper said without citing sources.

Groupwide auto sales likely fell 5 percent to about 7.2 million units, Nikkei added.

According to average forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, Toyota is expected to have logged a 42.35 billion yen operating profit for the 2009/10 business year, a figure that has been revised higher in recent days. [ID:nTOE60O03N]

Rivals are likely to have performed better as Toyota scrambled to cope with the worst recall crisis in its history during the March quarter. [ID:nTOE63K067]

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles -- most of them in the United States -- and has been penalised by U.S. safety regulators for not acting quickly enough once it identified a defect with its accelerator pedals. Earlier this week, it agreed to pay a record $16.4 million federal fine for that delay. [ID:nN19194939]

Toyota reports on May 11. ($1=93.91 Yen) (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Lincoln Feast)