Honda lifts profit forecasts amid sales recovery in U.S, China

FILE PHOTO: The Honda logo displayed at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, March 5, 2019. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy/File Photo

Honda Motor on Friday revised its operating profit outlook up to 420 billion yen (4.1 billion dollars).

The profit outlook for the current financial year from 200 billion yen estimated in August thanks to the recovery of vehicle sales in China and the United States.

The Japanese carmaker raised its net profit forecast to 390 billion yen for the year ending March 2021 from 165 billion yen predicted three months ago, and lifted its sales outlook to 13.05 trillion yen from 12.8 trillion yen.

“Despite lingering uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic slowdown is recovering faster than expected,’’ Honda said in a statement.

For the July-to-September period, Honda posted an operating profit of 283 billion yen, up 28.5 per cent from the same quarter last year, while sales were down 2.1 per cent to 3.65 trillion yen.

The carmaker also saw net profit for the quarter jumped by 22.6 per cent from a year earlier to 240.9 billion yen.