Honda Profits Rise

Honda’s quarterly profit surged nearly 63 per cent as production recovered after disruptions from a triple dip via natural disasters, but the Japanese automaker has slightly lowered its full-year profit forecast because of sales losses in China.

Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. reported a ¥77.4 billion (~Cdn/US $850 million) profit for the October-December period, noting that quarterly sales jumped nearly 25 per cent to ¥2.4 trillion ($26 billion).

All the Japanese automakers are seeing a dramatic recovery from the quake, tsunami, and radiation concerns in northeastern Japan in 2011, which destroyed key suppliers. Honda was also hurt by flooding in Thailand in late 2011.

On top of the sales recovery, they are getting a perk from a weakening yen, which helps lift the value of overseas earnings.

Japanese automakers are reporting solid sales increases in the key U.S. market and in Asian countries such as India and Indonesia.

The exception, of course, is in China where anti-Japanese sentiment has spiked these past 12 months over a territorial dispute over some stupid islands southwest of the main Japanese island, that until that time no one in Japan had ever given two thoughts about.

And now, because of the island dispute (read HERE or HERE for more), Honda expects to lose sales of 20,000 vehicles compared with its earlier plan.

Honda says that quarterly sales growth in all key global regions, including the U.S., Japan, Europe and Asia.

It also did a healthy business in motorcycles, for which has a long history and reputation, especially in Asia.

Honda kept its sales forecast for the fiscal year through March unchanged at ¥9.8 trillion ($108 billion), but lowered its net profit projection by ¥5-billion ($55 million) to ¥370 billion ($4 billion). The new projection would still represent a 75 per cent improvement over its result during the disaster-hammered previous fiscal year.

The maker of the Odyssey minivan, Fit subcompact and Asimo walking robot (read about Asimo in a cool blog I wrote HERE) said it now expects to sell slightly fewer vehicles for the fiscal year at 4.06 million vehicles, although that’s up from 3.1 million vehicles for the previous year.

Honda had expected to sell 4.1 million vehicles, but that number was lowered because of the China problems, company spokesman Hojo Tsuyoshi (surname first) notes.

Honda has not had to lower its annual revenue forecast, partly because it is getting a lift from a favorable exchange rate, says Hojo.

A weakening demand in Europe, where some countries are being hit by a slowdown, also contributed to the lowered vehicle sales forecast.

Honda said incentive spending in the U.S. squeezed its profit forecast but the main cause was the lowered vehicle sales in China.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s top automaker, and Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s No. 2 automaker, will report its earnings next week. They are also expected to highlight a robust recovery in the Japanese auto industry.