Honda Motor Q2 Profit Climbs, Confirms Outlook For Consolidated Profit, Sales

(RTTNews) - Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (HMC) reported Wednesday a surge in second-quarter profit, boosted by increased revenue in automobile and motorcycle business operations, as well as favorable foreign currency translation effects. Further, the company backed its fiscal 2014 forecast for consolidated profit and sales, while it updated forecast for parent company.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2014, net income attributable to the company rose 46.4 percent to 120.3 billion yen from last year's 82.2 billion, with earnings per share increasing to 21.2 percent to 66.79 yen from 45.63 yen in the second-quarter of 2013.

Operating income climbed 70 percent to 171.4 billion yen, and operating margin improved to 5.9 percent from 4.4 percent a year ago. The growth reflected an increase in sales volume and model mix and favorable foreign currency effects, despite increased expenses.

Net sales & other operating revenue for the quarter grew 27.3 percent to 2.89 trillion yen from last year's 2.27 trillion yen. Excluding currency translation effects, net sales grew 7.4 percent.

In the quarter, consolidated unit sales of motorcycles climbed 12.2 percent to 2.59 million units mainly in Asia due to new model introductions. Sales of automobiles grew 6.5 percent to 869 thousand units, and sales of power products edged up 0.5 percent to 1.30 million units.

Honda group unit sales of motorcycles grew 10.8 percent to 4.22 million units, while automobiles sales increased 5.1 percent to 1.05 million units.

The company noted that higher automobile unit sales reflected strong market growth in North America, and favorable sales of mini vehicles in Japan.

For the first half of fiscal 2014, the company's attributable net income grew 13.5 percent to 242.8 billion yen, and earnings per share rose 16.04 percent to 134.75 billion yen. Net sales and other operating income climbed 21.6 percent to 5.72 trillion yen. The company recorded growth in unit sales of motorcycles and automobiles, while sales of power products edged down 1 percent.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2014, Honda Motor still expects consolidated net income to be 580 billion yen, a growth of 58 percent from last year, while net sales and operating revenue would be 12.10 trillion yen, representing a 22.5 percent increase from last year.

For the parent company alone, the company now projects full-year net sales of 3.58 trillion yen, a decline of 50 billion yen from previous forecast. Net income is now projected to be 280 billion yen, 20 billion yen higher than previous estimate.

For the year, consolidated unit sales of motorcycles are now projected to be 10.65 million units, lower than previous estimate of 11 million units. The company continues to expect automobile sales of 3.67 million units.

In Japan, Honda shares closed Today's trading at 3,965 yen, up 50 yen or 1.28 percent.