TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd reported a 37 percent rise in operating profit in the third quarter and raised its full-year forecast as it expects higher auto sales in Asia while it also continues to reduce costs.
Japan's third-biggest automaker posted a 284.5 billion yen ($2.59 billion) operating profit in October-December, up from 207.6 billion yen a year earlier, and exceeding a mean estimate for 281.6 billion yen taken from 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Honda raised its forecast for full-year operating profit to 775 billion yen, based on an assumption for the yen to average around 110 yen versus the U.S. dollar in the year to March, from a previous forecast for 109 yen.
