Honda quarterly operating profit to top $3 billion, Nikkei reports

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Honda Motor will report consolidated first-quarter operating profit of more than 450 billion yen ($3.17 billion), boosted by strong U.S. hybrid vehicle sales, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday.

A Honda spokesperson said the information was speculation by Nikkei, adding that it was not something the company had released.

Japan’s second-biggest automaker is scheduled to report financial results for the April-June quarter on Wednesday.

($1 = 141.9900 yen)

(Reporting by Daniel LeussinkEditing by David Goodman)