Honda quarterly net jumps 142%

Honda Motor posted a 142.3% jump in quarterly operating profit on Friday as production recovered from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year.

Operating profit for the January-March quarter was 111.98 billion yen, slightly lagging an average estimate of 123.2 billion yen in a survey of 23 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net profit, which includes earnings made in China, rose 60.7% to 71.59 billion yen.

Honda suffered the most from the disasters in Japan and Thailand last year, and only re-started work at its Thai car plant at the end of March after a six-month hiatus.

Honda's shares have risen about 5.5% in the past three months, lagging gains of around 14% by both Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor.

Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2012