Honda reverts to profit amid recovery from pandemic damage

Honda returned to profitability in April-June, recording a 222.5 billion yen (£1.4 billion) profit, as better sales and cost cuts added to the Japanese car maker’s bottom line.

The group had racked up a 80.8 billion yen loss the same period the previous year, when the entire industry was hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

Honda’s quarterly sales totalled 3.6 trillion yen (£23 billion), up nearly 69% year on year, as global vehicles sales recovered in North America. Motorcycle sales jumped in India and Indonesia.

Honda’s financial services improved because of higher prices for used cars, while its aircraft operations suffered, according to the Tokyo-based maker of the CR-V sports-utility vehicle, Gold Wing motorcycle and Asimo robot.

Honda raised its profit forecast for the year to March 2022, to 670 billion yen (£4.4 billion), revising its previous projection upward by 80 billion yen, boosted by better sales and cost cuts.

But it slightly lowered its vehicle sales forecast for the fiscal year to 4.85 million vehicles from the previous 5 million. The lower number is still better than the 4.5 million Honda sold in the previous fiscal year to March.

It sold 998,000 vehicles in the April-June quarter, up from 792,000 in the same period last year.

Honda’s results underline the recovery at Japanese car makers, which have been hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and a global shortage of semiconductors.