Honda full-year net profit surges 56% to $5.6bn

Japanese automaker Honda said Friday its net profit soared to $5.6 billion in the fiscal year to March, thanks to brisk overseas sales and a weaker yen. Earnings for the period came in at 574 billion yen, up 56.4 percent from a year earlier, while revenue rose about 20 percent to 11.84 trillion yen. The company forecast a profit of 595 billion yen for the current year to March 2015. Results for the January-March quarter were especially strong, with net profit more than doubling to 170.5 billion yen from a year earlier, Honda said. Japan's third-largest car maker also said its annual operating profit rose nearly 40 percent from the previous year, "due primarily to increased revenue in automobile and motorcycle business operations as well as favourable foreign currency translation effects". A sharp decline in the yen has boosted profits at major Japanese exporters, including Honda rivals Toyota and Nissan which are to report their full-year earnings next month.