Japan’s Honda Motor posts 100% jump in Q3 profits at ¥160.7 bn

Japanese car and two-wheeler maker Honda Motor Co reported today that its net profit more than doubled for the October-December quarter from a year earlier to ¥160.7 billion ($1.57 billion) due to the yen's depreciation, cost-cutting measures and robust domestic and US sales.

Honda said its sales rose 24.5 per cent year-on-year to ¥3.02 trillion for the quarter while operating profit jumped 73.2 per cent to ¥228.5 billion.

The carmaker also said its global sales grew 9.7 per cent from a year earlier to 1.08 million vehicles for the quarter.

Honda maintained its net profit forecast at ¥580 billion and operating profit outlook at 780 billion yen for the current financial year ending March, while sales were projected at ¥12.1 trillion.

The company expects to sell a record 1.6 million cars in the United States, its biggest market, this calendar year, up 5 per cent from 1.525 million sold in 2013, executive vice president Tetsuo Iwamura said.

On the other hand, he also said Honda expects its car sales in Thailand to fall at least 50,000 vehicles short of the 213,000 sold last year, due in part to political unrest in that country.