Honda cuts profit forecast by 61.9 pct
17/12/2008 16:36
Honda Motor Co cut group net profit forecast by 61.9 percent from its
previous estimate, the third time to revise downward the projection for fiscal
2008 through next March, according to local media today.
The second-largest
automaker in Japan now estimates earnings of 185 billion Japanese yen. It also
made downward revisions in July and October, Kyodo News Agency reported.
For
the second half of the current fiscal year that began in October, Honda is
likely to incur a group operating loss of 190 billion yen, as a result of the
sluggish sales in North America, it said.
The automaker also plans to delay
the opening of a new factory in Yorii, Saitama Prefecture of Japan, and freeze
the debut of the luxury Acura brand cars due to plummeting global auto sales, it
added.
It is considering delaying the start of operations at the Saitama
factory from the initial opening in 2010 and will put off the timing of bringing
the factory's output to its full capacity of 200,000 vehicles per year.
The
company had originally expected to spend a total of 158 billion yen for the
Yorii car factory and in a nearby engine factory in the town of Ogawa in the
same prefecture, but those investment plans will also be scaled down, Kyodo
quoted informed sources as saying.
For the Acura series, Honda will freeze
plans to introduce the luxury vehicles in Japan and Russia around
2010.
Xinhua
|
