The Japanese Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said today that Honda Motor will post a group operating profit of 580 billion yen ($4.34 billion) for the business year to the end of March, surpassing its estimate by 5.5 percent, according to Reuters.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The news agency said that the business daily, without citing sources, said Japan’s third-largest car maker had benefited from strong domestic sales and that a weak yen had boosted profits from overseas operations.
An operating profit of 580 billion yen would be a record high and an increase of 43 percent from the previous year, Reuters added.
Questioned by Reuters, a Honda spokeswoman would not confirm the newspaper report. “The company has no plans at this time to change its operating profit forecast of 550 billion yen,” she responded.
Reuters said that Honda has achieved strong sales thanks to its popular subcompacts and minivans despite the stagnant car market both at home in Japan and overseas.
Japan’s weak yen alone was expected to boost profits by about 20 billion yen, with the company having forecast a dollar/yen rate of around 117 for the October to March period, Reuters said, citing the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
Honda Vice-President Koichi Amemiya said earlier this month at the Detroit auto show that a drop of one yen against the dollar results in a 12 billion yen benefit in annual operating income, Reuters said, adding that strong Honda sales in Asia, especially China, have helped to offset weak sales in Europe.
