Honda sees bumper year as it leaves disasters behind

Honda Motor, Japan's second largest automaker, said Wednesday its profits soared almost seven-fold in the latest quarter from a year earlier, helped by increased sales in India and China.The maker of the Insight hybrid and the Civic and Accord cars sharply hiked its earnings forecasts, offering another ray of hope for the battered sector.Honda posted a better-than-expected net profit of 134.6 billion yen (1.5 billion dollars) for the fiscal third quarter through December, up from 20.2 billion yen in the same period of the previous year.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co posted a more than doubling in quarterly operating profit on Friday, as production recovered from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year, and it forecast a 38 percent rise in global sales in the year ahead as it makes up for lost time. Honda, which has lagged a recovery from the effects of disasters in Japan and Thailand by rivals Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co , reported operating profit for the January-March fourth-quarter of 111.98 billion yen ($1.4 billion), slightly lagging an average estimate of 123. ...

Money Morning submits: By David Zeiler Disruptions caused by Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami could further encourage Japanese auto parts makers to relocate factories to China - an eventuality already being driven by explosive growth in the Chinese auto market.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd wil

Japanese automaker Honda Motor doubled its operating profit in the year to March thanks to demand in emerging markets and the cheap yen, a report said Friday.Honda's year-on-year operating profit shot up roughly 90 percent to 360 billion yen (3.9 billion dollars) for the previous financial year, the business daily Nikkei reported, without citing sources.The figure exceeds previous expectations for a profit of 320 billion yen, it said.

Honda is aiming to double global auto sales to more than 6 million vehicles over the next five years as it gears up for growth after getting hit by disasters last year.