Honda Motor net income for the fiscal first quarter to 30 June plunged 88.3% to JPY31.7bn (US$394million) while net profit per share fell to JPY17.64 from JPY150.27 a year ago.
Sales were down 27.4% to JPY1,714.5bn ($21,239m) due primarily, the automaker said, “to decreased revenue in the automobile business mainly caused by the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake” on 11 March and adverse foreign exchange, despite increased revenue in the motorcycle business.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Operating income for the quarter was off 90.4% to JPY22.5bn ($280m) as unit sales fell and an increase in fixed cost per unit as production output was reduced, as well as the “unfavourable foreign currency effect”, despite decreased SG&A expenses.
Automobile unit sales fell 39.2% to 547,000 units due to production disruptions in all regions from the earthquake. Revenue fell 35.1% to JPY1,176.9bn ($14,578m). Operating loss was JPY76.2bn ($944m), down JPY225.1bn year on year.
Revenue from the financial services business decreased 9.1% to JPY135.8bn ($1,682m) due mainly to currency effects. Operating income fell 1.9% to JPY53.6bn ($664m).
Honda revised forecasts for the fiscal year ending 31 March, 2012, based on assumed average exchange rates for the Japanese yen to the US dollar and the euro at JPY80 and JPY112, respectively.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataProjected auto unit sales are down 77,000 to 3,435,000, sales revenue lowered 2.7% to JPY8,700bn, operating income forecast down 52.6% to JPY270bn and net income is now seen down 56.9% to JPY230bn.
”The issue of parts supply constraint rapidly improved,” senior managing officer Fumihiko Ike told a news conference in Tokyo.
Despite the strong yen, trading below 78 to the dollar on Monday in Tokyo, Ike said Honda had no intention of shifting production outside Japan just because of the yen’s strength.
”We basically hold the view that we make (products) at places where they are in demand,” Ike said, according to Kyodo News.
The automaker said it plans to pay a full-year dividend of JPY60 per share, up from JPY54 for the previous fiscal year.
