TOKYO - Honda's January-March profit jumped 61 per cent as the Japanese automaker sold more cars and motorcycles in a turnaround from a disaster-battered 2011. It forecast record global sales of 4.3 million vehicles for this fiscal year.
Honda Motor Co., which makes the Accord sedan, Fit subcompact and Asimo robot, reported net profit of 71.5 billion yen ($882.7 million) for the fiscal fourth quarter, up from 44.5 billion yen a year earlier.
The results underline a recovery at all Japanese automakers from the sales plunge that hit last year after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disrupted the supply of auto parts from northeastern Japan.
Tokyo-based Honda's quarterly sales improved 8.7 per cent to 2.41 trillion yen ($29.7 billion), mainly because of rising sales in Japan and North America.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, Honda's profit fell 60 per cent to 211.4 billion yen due to the disruptions to production from the tsunami disaster in Japan and last year's flooding in Thailand where Honda as assembly lines.
The automaker has also been hurt by an unfavourable exchange rate. A strong yen erodes the overseas earnings of Japanese exporters such as Honda. The dollar been trading near 80 yen compared with 86 yen the previous year.
But Honda is confident of a rebound, forecasting record global vehicle sales and an annual net profit of 470 billion yen — more than double what it earned last fiscal year.
It sold 3.1 million vehicles worldwide for the fiscal year ended March 31.
The recovery tale is likely to be repeated at other Japanese automakers. Japan's No. 1 automaker Toyota Motor Corp. reports earnings May 9. Nissan Motor Co., the nation's No. 2 automaker, reports earnings May 11.
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