Honda lifts first-half profit, trims outlook

Honda lifted first-half sales by 9.9 percent, the company said Monday

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TOKYO, Japan -- Strong U.S. sales helped lift first-half operating profit for Japan's No. 2 carmaker, Honda Motor Co, by 2.7 percent, the company said Monday.

But Honda cut its profit targets for the full year to next March because of an assumed stronger exchange rate for the yen.

Shares in Honda closed Monday at 5,060 yen, a decline of 110 yen or 2.13 percent on a day the broader market, measured by the Nikkei 225, added about a third of a percent.

Honda's main rivals, Toyota and Nissan, also fell, though not as sharply.

Honda's group operating profit for the six months to September reached a record 323.87 billion yen ($2.61 billion), slightly under a consensus forecast of about 337 billion yen.

Sales up 9.9 percent

Net profit rose 12.1 percent from a year earlier to a record 194.78 billion yen, or 199.98 yen per share, compared with Honda's April forecast of 230 billion yen. Sales climbed 9.9 percent to 3.86 trillion yen.

The carmaker earns about 90 percent of its revenues in North America. It cut its profit targets for the full year based on an assumed exchange rate of 121 yen to the dollar, which was trimmed from its previous rate of 125 yen.

Honda now predicts a group operating profit of 620 billion yen for the year to next March. While that is still a record, it is down from an earlier estimate of 720 billion yen.

The carmaker also lowered its group net profit forecast for the full year to 410 billion yen, or 421.60 yen per share. Its previous estimate was 460 billion yen.

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