Honda profit doubles on yen\'s fall, cost cutting Japan sales

Honda Motor Co's net profit more than doubled for theOctober-to-December period from a year earlier to 160.7 billion yen(1.57 billion dollars) due to the yen's depreciation, cost-cuttingmeasures and robust domestic and US sales, the company said Friday according to dpa. Honda said its sales rose 24.5 per cent year-on-year to 3.02 trillionyen for the quarter while operating profit jumped 73.2 per cent to228.5 billion yen. The carmaker also said its global sales grew 9.7 per cent from a yearearlier to 1.08 million vehicles for the quarter. Honda maintained its net profit forecast at 580 billion yen andoperating profit outlook at 780 billion yen for the current financialyear to the end of March, while sales were projected at 12.1 trillionyen. Shares in Honda closed down 0.26 per cent to 3,893 yen Friday aheadof the earnings report, which was released after the markets closed.