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April-June net profit at Japan's third-biggest automaker rose to
186.04 billion yen ($1.50 billion), from 155.60 billion yen a
year earlier. Honda reported the first-quarter results under
international accounting standards for the first time.
That result beat an average estimate of 145.75 billion yen in a
survey of 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Like other
Japanese automakers, Honda has benefited from the cheaper yen,
which boosts the value of repatriated earnings.
Honda is still soaking up hefty quality-related costs as it
continues to recall cars equipped with air bag parts made by top
supplier Takata Corp <7312.T>. The Tokyo-based automaker has
recalled tens of millions of cars globally since 2008 to replace
potentially faulty inflators, including almost 5 million
vehicles just two months ago.
Regulators have linked eight deaths - all on Honda's cars - to
Takata's inflators, which can explode with too much force and
send metal fragments inside the vehicle. Honda, which didn't
break out details of quality-related costs for the first
quarter, restated its earnings for last year to reflect
additional costs for the expanded recalls.
Honda said on Friday that its global car sales rose 4.9 percent
to 1.147 million.
Sales in North America advanced 11 percent in the first quarter,
driven by increased production of its popular HR-V compact sport
utility vehicle (SUV) at its new plant in Mexico. The U.S.
market - its biggest - has been buoyant, with a range of
automakers reporting higher sales there.
Meanwhile, car sales in Asia jumped 19 percent, thanks partly to
a strong performance in China helped by the refreshed Vezel SUV
and other models. The gains in Asia and North America more than
cancelled out a 27 percent drop in Japan and a 16 percent
decline in Europe.
Honda its financial forecasts unchanged for the year ending
March 2016, calling for a modest 3.1 percent rise in net profit
to 525 billion yen.
(Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Chang-Ran Kim)
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