Honda Motor said Wednesday its operating profit for the April to June business period jumped 77.5% to a record ¥394.45 billion ($2.8 billion), helped by strong improvement in automobile sales primarily in the North American market.
The automaker’s net profit soared more than twofold to ¥363.07 billion, while sales increased 20.8% to ¥4.62 trillion.
“The auto industry (in North America) is recovering, with demand still outpacing supply,” Masaharu Hirose, head of the Finance Division, said during an online news conference.
Honda sold 901,000 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter, up 10.6% from a year earlier. Of that figure, 393,000 units were sold in North America, up from 267,000 units in the same period of the previous year, due to a recovery in semiconductor supplies.
Still, Honda maintained its global vehicle sales target for the full business year at 4.35 million units and did not change its assumed exchange rate of the Japanese currency to the U.S. dollar at ¥125.
“The economic environment in North America remains volatile, so we want to keep a close eye on the situation,” Hirose said, referring to the fallout of the collapse of U.S. regional banks.
In contrast, automobile sales in China slumped due to fierce competition for electric vehicles as well as concerns over the country’s economy, although Honda said it was within expectations.
Honda also said the yen’s weakness against a range of global currencies had acted as a tailwind in lifting its profits, but long-term stability in exchange rates was more desirable.
The automaker maintained its outlook for the fiscal year ending March, forecasting a net profit of ¥800 billion, up 22.8% from a year earlier. It expects operating profit to rise 28.1% to ¥1 trillion and sales to climb 7.6% to ¥18.2 trillion.