Honda announces 29.5% drop in Q1 profit – report

Honda has announced its first quarter results for the fiscal year, and has reported a 29.5% drop in its first quarter profit. The automaker recorded a profit of 172.3 billion yen (RM6.7 billion) for the April-June period, down from the 244.3 billion yen (RM9.5 billion) it achieved in the same period last year.

The company lowered its profit forecast for the fiscal year 2020 to 645 billion yen (RM25.09 billion) from an earlier forecast of 665 billion yen (RM25.8 billion), but expects operating profit to increase by 6% to 770 billion yen (RM29.95 billion) for the fiscal year.

Slowing sales in the US and a slowdown in the Indian market contributed to the decrease in profit. The company’s US sales fell to 407,000 vehicles over the three-month period from 425,000 vehicles a year earlier, Reuters reports.

The company also lowered its forecast for global sales in the year to March 2020 to 5.11 million vehicles, having previously projected 5.16 million units. It sold a record 5.323 million units last year.

In May, Honda had stated that it was looking to cut global production costs by 10% by 2025 and scale back regional model variations, channeling savings into research and development, the report added.