TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:) forecast a 2.8% increase in operating profit for this fiscal year, after beating analysts' estimates in the fourth quarter as strong sales growth in the United States offset a decline in China.
Full-year operating profit for Japan's second-largest automaker by volume is expected to rise to 1.42 trillion yen ($9.13 billion), compared with an average profit estimate of 1.39 trillion yen in an LSEG survey of 22 analysts.
Operating profit for the three months to March 31 increased more than sixfold from a year earlier to 305.6 billion yen, exceeding the average forecast of nine analysts of 248.3 billion yen.
The automaker achieved a 17% increase in sales in its largest foreign market, the United States, to about 378,000 cars during that period. However, its sales in China fell by more than 6% in the period from January to March, to about 207 thousand vehicles.
In China, the world's largest car market, Honda is among the Japanese car brands that have struggled against smarter, faster-moving local rivals who have lured Chinese drivers with low-cost, technology-laden electric cars.
Honda, which remains a laggard in the electric vehicle space, said last month that it plans to build an electric vehicle production base in Ontario, Canada and launch six Ye-branded electric vehicle models in China by 2027.
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