Toyota Motor Corp. was Japan's biggest corporate income earner in fiscal 2004 for the sixth straight year, credit research agency Teikoku Databank said Thursday.

Toyota declared 922.8 billion yen in income to tax authorities, after posting record high combined sales in domestic and overseas markets for the year to March 31.

The Bank of Japan came second, with 480.2 billion yen. The central bank moved back into the top 10 earners for the first time in seven years due to foreign-exchange gains stemming from the yen's fall mainly against the dollar, Teikoku Databank said.

Among others, Nippon Steel Corp. ranked ninth, the first time in 23 years the steelmaker has come in the top 10, underlining strong performances in exports by Japan's manufacturing industry.

NTT DoCoMo Inc., which ranked second in fiscal 2003, dropped out of the top 10.

Tax offices require companies to report taxable income of 40 million yen or more.

Teikoku Databank based the rankings on a list of such companies released by tax authorities.

The number of companies that declared 40 million yen or more in income in fiscal 2004 came to 76,323, up 3.7 percent from the previous year for the second consecutive yearly increase, Teikoku Databank said.