Honda Posts Record Fourth Quarter

TOKYO — Honda Motor Co.’s fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 70% as it sold more profitable models in the U.S. and gained from a weak yen. Japan’s No. 2 auto maker predicted that net income would rise by more than 25% this year.

Group net income for the maker of Accord mid-size cars rose to a record 107 billion yen, or $832 million, for the three months ended March 31, compared with $490 million a year earlier. The gain matched analysts’ forecasts.

U.S. demand for light trucks, notably the MDX sport utility vehicle from the company’s Acura brand, was so strong in the last year that Honda was able to avoid costly discounting that dented rivals’ results.

The weaker yen also sharpened its competitiveness, with the auto maker posting a jump in exports to the U.S. of almost two-thirds last month.

“Honda is promising to do even better this year, thanks to rising production capacity in the U.S. and the planned total revamp of the best-selling Accord,” said Naohiko Sasaki, an equities manager at Kokusai Asset Management Co.

Sales for the fourth quarter rose to $16.3 billion, an increase of 14% from the year-earlier period. Operating profit gained 55% to $1.3 billion.

For the fiscal year just ended, Honda’s net income rose 56% to a record 363 billion yen, or $2.8 billion, from $1.8 billion a year earlier, the company said. Sales rose 14% to $57.5 billion.

Honda predicts it will break most records for a third year, with net income rising 27% to $3.6 billion this year. Sales are projected to increase 10% to $63 billion.

“An increase in operating profit this year will come from the opening of the new Alabama plant, which will raise minivan production and sales,” said Koichi Amemiya, a Honda executive vice president.

Fueling the auto maker’s expected gains this year will be a revival of demand in the U.S.--the world’s biggest market and the source of as much as 85% of Honda’s profit.

The company predicts industrywide U.S. sales of 16 million new cars and trucks in 2002, up from a previous estimate of 15.5 million. The extra demand is likely to translate into 15,000 extra sales for Honda, the company said.