Honda doubles annual net profit, quake weighs

TOKYO: Japanese auto giant Honda on Thursday said net profit for the fourth quarter ended March fell 38.3 percent from a year earlier due to costs related to last month's earthquake as well as the strong yen.

Net profit for the quarter totalled 44.5 billion yen ($536 million), the auto giant said.

Net profit doubled year-on-year in 2010-11 to 534.1 billion yen but the automaker gave no forecast for the current year as it continues to gauge the impact of the March 11 disasters on production.

Honda was forced to temporarily suspend production at its Japan sites as the disaster crippled crucial component supply chains amid a shortage of parts.

Honda said quake-related losses totalled about 45.7 billion yen.