Honda Motor Co has confirmed a steady growth in second-quarter profits, leading to the marque posting a more optimistic outlook for the rest of its financial year.
The brand has confirmed a 16% rise in profits in the quarter ending September. Its operating profit for Q2 totalled 232.1b yen; up on the 198.9b yen of earnings recorded in the same quarter last year.
The company subsequently lifted its full-year operating profit forecast from 830b yen to 870b.
Honda says that the strong result stems from strong performance from its motorcycle arm in Asia, and the weak status of the yen.
In an official result briefing, Honda executive vice president Kohei Takeuchi said that the brand lifted its targets “to reflect our efforts to further improve profitability, higher automobile sales volume and the impact of the yen’s depreciation”.
The figures help make up for what had been a stressful September for Honda.
Early on in the month it confirmed plans to slash outputs by up to 40% at its Saitama prefecture and Suzuka production plants due to supply chain and logistics issues.
