Honda bucked expectations of losses in the first quarter, Wednesday posting a 7.5 billion yen ($79.8 million) profit and raising forecasts for the full year on optimism auto sales will improve. The results for the April-June period were better than the flood of red ink some analysts had forecast, though profit was still down 96 percent, battered by slumping car sales and a strong yen, which offset cost cuts. Honda made a net profit of 173.3 billion yen in the same period of 2008.
The numbers show that Japan's No. 2 automaker, reputed for ecological small cars, including the Insight hybrid and the Accord sedan, is holding up better than its rivals during the global economic slump.
2009 Comicon Photo Gallery
2009 Frankfurt Auto Show Photo Gallery
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