Japan’s Honda sees profit slide on chips, material cost woes

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Honda’s fiscal fourth quarter profit slipped to almost half of what the Japanese automaker earned the year before as it endured supply shortages and rising raw materials costs. Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. said its profit was 124.8 billion yen, or $967 million, in the January-March quarter. That was 41% lower than a year earlier. Quarterly sales edged 7% higher. Honda acknowledged continuing uncertainty over supplies and production for various reasons, such as Chinese lockdowns to battle coronavirus outbreaks. The semiconductor shortage has hurt sales, despite strong demand. Honda sold 4 million vehicles in the fiscal year that ended in March, down from 4.5 million vehicles the previous year.