Honda reported on Friday (10) a 22% increase in third-quarter operating profit, a better-than-expected result, as a weak yen helped to offset rising raw material costs and lower vehicle production and sales amid shortages of semiconductor chips.
Operating profit for the three months to Dec. 31 was 280.4 billion yen ($2.13 billion), compared with a median estimate of 239.4 billion yen in a survey of 11 Refinitiv analysts, and an operating profit of 229.4 billion yen in the same period of the previous year.
The carmaker faced setbacks in China with the spread of Covid-19 and semiconductor shortages in the third quarter, which extended into January with some of its dealerships temporarily closing.
Sales in China in January were down about 50% from a year earlier, Honda executive Eiji Fujimura said.
“The impact was factored into our original plans,” he says, adding that sales are expected to pick up from February.
While the automaker reduced its group unit sales by 6.1% to 3.85 million vehicles from 4.1 million units, it maintained its annual operating profit forecast of 870 billion yen for the year through March, compared with a average of 871.28 billion yen predicted by 21 analysts.
Honda’s global auto sales were down 8.7% in the first nine months of the fiscal year compared with the same period a year earlier, the company said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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