Honda reports jump in profit, lowers forecasts

TOKYO  — Honda is reporting a 36 percent surge in net profit for the fiscal second quarter as Japanese automakers bounce back from the tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan the previous year.

Honda Motor Co. said Monday it raked in an 82.2 billion yen ($1 billion) profit for the July-September period as sales jumped 20 percent to 2.27 trillion yen. Honda had been hit hard by the March 2011 quake and tsunami disaster that disrupted supply chains.

But the Tokyo-based manufacturer of the Accord sedan, Fit compact and Asimo humanoid robot lowered its forecasts for the fiscal year through March 2013, because of the recent sales drop in China over a territorial dispute that has set off violent protests in some parts of China and a call to boycott Japanese goods.