TOKYO: Honda Motor Co.'s profit for the fiscal third quarter has more than tripled what the Japanese automaker earned last year as its sales grew and profits got a perk from a U.S. tax cut.
Tokyo-based Honda makes the Accord sedan, Odyssey minivan and Asimo robot. It reported Friday that October-December profit totaled 570.2 billion yen ($5.2 billion), up from 168.8 billion yen the previous year.
Quarterly sales grew 13 percent to 3.96 trillion yen ($36 billion).
Honda lifted its annual forecast through March to 1 trillion yen ($9 billion), up from 616.5 billion yen the previous fiscal year on continued sales growth and a favorable exchange rate.
Honda previously projected fiscal year profit of 585 billion yen ($5.3 billion).