Japan earthquake hits Honda profits

Car manufacturer Honda has forecast a 65% fall in profits, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.

Car manufacturer Honda has forecast a 65% fall in operating profits, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.

Operating profit is expected to decline to 200bn yen (€1.72bn) from last year's 569.7bn yen (€4.9bn).

Net profit is predicted to plunge to 195bn yen (€1.68bn) from 534bn yen (€4.6bn).

Honda had delayed announcing its financial forecasts because of uncertainty over when production would recover.

The price of shares in the company have fallen 12% in the last three months.