TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co , Japan's second-biggest auto maker, reported a surprise 1.4 percent rise in quarterly operating profit on Friday, weathering a sinking dollar and weak sales at home and in its most crucial U.S. market.
Operating profit for October-December was 161.13 billion yen ($1.52 billion), compared with an average forecast by seven analysts of 145.9 billion yen.
Net profit jumped 31 percent to 151.05 billion yen, lifted by non-operating profits from financial activities and equities earnings from China.
For the full business year to March 31, Honda stuck to its forecast for an operating profit of 623 billion yen, down 9.6 percent, but lifted its net profit forecast slightly, to 473 billion yen from 470 billion yen, calling for a 11 percent rise.
Going forward, analysts said a downturn in U.S. sales and a persistently fragile dollar were the biggest worries for Honda, which earns most of its income in the United States.
The dollar has lost more than 10 yen from a year ago and is now at around 106 yen, compared with Honda's original assumption of an average 110 yen for the six months to March 31.
Honda relied heavily on the world's biggest car market to offset soft domestic demand over the past year, but sales have been slipping lately due to a dearth of new models and dwindling orders for the ageing, high-volume Civic car.
With few new products due for another year or so, and a full startup of its expanded Alabama plant not until later this year, Honda will probably continue to see its U.S. sales slide from last year's high levels for the time being, analysts said.
Domestic sales and model mix, on the other hand, will likely begin to recover thanks to the launch of new cars like the remodelled Odyssey minivan, they said.