Honda net profit doubles to $1.56 bn in Q3
Tokyo (AFP)
Honda said Friday its net profit doubled to $1.56 billion in the three months to December, thanks to brisk global sales and a weaker yen.
Net profit for October-December rose to 160.7 billion yen ($1.56 billion), while revenue rose 24.5 percent to 3.02 trillion yen in the quarter.
The results were "mainly due to a rise in automobile and motorcycle net sales as well as the positive impact of foreign exchange effects," the company said.
A sharp decline in the yen this financial year has boosted profitability at major Japanese exporters including Honda rivals Toyota and Nissan.
For the nine months to December, Japan's third-largest automaker logged 403.60 billion yen in net profit, up nearly 40 percent from the same period the previous year.
Revenue for the three quarters rose 23 percent, with its sales in North America up 30 percent year-on-year thanks to healthy sales of four-wheeled vehicles, it said.
Honda also enjoyed good sales in the motorbike business in Asia, where net profit was up more than 50 percent from a year ago.
(Agence France-Presse, 31 January 2014 The Roman)
