Honda Motor said on Friday it boosted consolidated operating profit for the first nine months of fiscal 2022/23 by JPY62.2bn to JPY733.9bn.

That was despite what the automaker called “some unfavourable factors” such as a fall in automobile production and unit sales due to the semiconductor supply shortage and the impact of Covid-19 in China, plus increased production costs due to an increase in the cost of raw materials and the impact of inflation.

Those factors were, however, offset by “pricing that reflects increased product value”, an increase in motorcycle unit sales and favourable currency effects.

Consolidated profit rose JPY1bn year on year to JPY583.1bn.

The automaker maintained its earlier forecast for full year consolidated operating profit at JPY870bin, “reflecting pricing that reflects increased product value, an increase in motorcycle unit sales mostly in Asia and the company-wide efforts to further improve profitability”.

Nine-month revenue: rose 17.3% to JPY12,523.4bn yen due mainly to higher motorcycle sales and favorable currency.