- Nasdaq and gold hit record highs
- Youth movement: NBA's 20-something stars set to battle in conference finals
- Top-ranked golfer Scheffler's court date postponed until June
- Brazil mayor's mammoth task: rebuild from floods, prevent more
- Microsoft unveils 'AI-ready' PCs
- Trump trial prosecution rests, closing arguments next week
- New Liverpool boss Slot admits he could not resist lure of club
- OpenAI to 'pause' voice linked to Scarlett Johansson
- Women's tennis signs 'multi-year partnership' with Saudi investment fund
- Two policemen killed as Colombia rebels launch gun, bomb attacks
- Murray on the brink in Geneva comeback
- ICC prosecutor seeks Gaza 'war crimes' arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders
- 'Incognito Market' founder arrested in New York
- Cate Blanchett urges film industry to include refugee voices
- Sargent returns to US squad for pre-COPA friendlies
- Microsoft unveils 'Copilot Plus' PC amped with AI
- Biden slams 'outrageous' ICC bid to arrest Israeli leaders
- Five things to know about incoming Anfield boss Arne Slot
- Changing climate influences London's Chelsea Flower Show
- UK PM sorry for institutional cover-up in infected blood scandal
- G7 push to use Russian assets for Ukraine 'vital and urgent': Yellen
- Trump trial closing arguments set for next week
- US Supreme Court rejects ex-Guantanamo detainee's appeal
- Japan's Studio Ghibli receives honorary Palme d'Or in Cannes
- Liverpool confirm Slot will replace Klopp as manager
- Pogacar 'good enough' to win Giro d'Italia and Tour de France
- Cargo ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge towed to port
- 'God works slowly': NGO ship rescues 35 Bangladeshis off Malta
- Dominican Republic's President Abinader wins resounding re-election
- England relish 'fear factor' of returning paceman Archer
- Israel, Hamas reject bid before ICC to arrest leaders for war crimes
- Explosive Trump biopic hits Cannes Film Festival
- Demi Moore transforms for Cannes body horror 'The Substance'
- Spain demands Milei public apology for 'corrupt wife' comment
- Gold hits record high as Iran shock triggers haven support
- Ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge being towed to port
- Max wins but Red Bull supremacy challenged: Emilia Romagna GP talking points
- US inflation fight will take 'further time': senior Fed official
- UK report finds cover-up of decades-long infected blood scandal
- Trump trial resumes, closing arguments expected next week
- Ruto on first state visit by Kenyan leader to US in two decades
- African players in Europe: Superb Kudus goal in vain as City take title
- Pope to visit Belgium, Luxembourg in September
- Gold hits high as Iran shock triggers haven support
- Strikes pound Gaza as Israel voices 'duty' to expand Rafah incursion
- Russia tries playwright and director on terror charges
- Iran mourns president Raisi's death in helicopter crash
- Attack on tourists rocks fledgling Afghanistan tourism sector
- Paralympics should put disability back on global agenda, says IPC chief
- South Africa's top court strikes Zuma from ballot
Honda posts record profit, issues cautious forecasts
Japanese auto giant Honda on Friday logged a record annual profit thanks to improving global vehicle sales, but issued a cautious outlook for the current fiscal year.
The company said net profit for the year to March soared 70 percent to 1.1 trillion yen ($7.1 billion) on sales of 20.4 trillion yen, up 20.8 percent from the previous year.
Honda has made big outlays as it aggressively pursues a target set three years ago of achieving 100 percent electric vehicle sales by 2040.
Its 2023-24 results come two weeks after it announced the largest automotive investment in Canada's history for a new US$11 billion EV battery and vehicle assembly plant.
The company already has a partnership in electric vehicles with Sony, and is exploring collaboration with arch-rival Nissan as they face a "once-in-a-century" upheaval in the car industry -- a move analysts say is aimed at catching up with Chinese EV competitors.
On Friday, Honda said global vehicle sales were up, thanks largely to its vehicles' popularity in the United States.
Sales volume was down in China, however, while its motorcycle division's robust sales in India and Brazil offset falls in Vietnam.
Price increases and the weak yen boosted profits overall, Honda said.
For the year to March 2025, the company expects net profit to fall 9.7 percent to 1.0 trillion yen on sales of 20.3 trillion yen, down 0.6 percent.
Rising costs and changes to forex rates may put pressure on company results going forward, it said.
Vehicle sales in the United States and the Japanese markets are expected to grow, Honda said, but it predicted sales in the rest of Asia would ease.
Nissan on Thursday said it had nearly doubled its 2023-24 net profit, weathering challenges in the Chinese market, but forecast a dip of around 10 percent for 2024-25.
Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker, also posted a record annual net profit this week.
L.Dubois--BTB