Honda Motor Co. on Friday raised its net profit outlook to 390 billion yen ($3.8 billion) in fiscal 2020 from the previous projection of 165 billion yen due to cost-cutting efforts amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Japanese automaker revised upward its projected operating profit to 420 billion yen in the current business year through March from 200 billion yen forecast in August. Its sales estimate is also upgraded to 13.05 trillion yen from the 12.80 trillion yen.

In the April to September period, Honda said its net profit fell 56.6 percent to 160.05 billion yen from a year earlier. Operating profit dropped 64.2 percent to 169.27 billion yen, on sales of 5.78 trillion yen, down 25.2 percent.

==Kyodo

© Kyodo News International, Inc., source Newswire