Honda quarterly profit slumps, cuts annual target

TOKYO: Honda Motor Co.'s net profit tumbled 90 percent in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, hit by the global economic slump.Japan's No. 2 automaker also cut its net profit forecast for the current fiscal year through March by 57 percent, to 80 billion yen ($888.9 million) from 180 billion yen.Honda released its quarterly earnings Friday, which showed its net profit was 20.24 billion yen during the latest quarter, versus 200 billion a year earlier. Like other carmakers, Honda is cutting workers and scaling back production as demand for vehicles falls in key markets amid the global economic slump.