HIBAPRESS
Japanese Honda Motor is facing a decline in its profits, after the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on car imports to the United States affected its latest quarterly results.
Despite this pressure, the company is moving towards a more optimistic outlook for the rest of the fiscal year, following the agreement between Japan and the United States to reduce high tariffs to about 15%. Honda had raised its annual profit forecast to 700 billion yen (about $4.5 billion) last August, but analysts' estimates now indicate that the figure could rise to 869 billion yen by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2026. Despite the decline in car sales, the recovery in the motorcycle sector has alleviated the impact of this decline on the company's overall performance. Honda still adopts a cautious and optimistic view at the same time, while Japanese automakers prepare for the possibility of incurring billions of dollars in losses as a result of the new US trade policies. According to estimates by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, Honda is expected to record operating profits of 219.8 billion yen during the second quarter of the current fiscal year, supported by strong revenues from the motorcycle sector, which may achieve profits of 313 billion yen, versus operating losses in the automotive sector estimated at about 118.7 billion yen. Analysts also expect net profits for the same quarter to reach 143.7 billion yen, with net sales estimated at about 5.31 trillion yen. As for the entire fiscal year, the company is expected to achieve operating profits of 868.8 billion yen, total sales of 21.4 trillion yen, along with net profits of 588.3 billion yen, with expected cash distributions around 73.11 yen per share.
