(From Bloomberg)
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Yamaha Motor Co., the world's second- largest motorcycle maker, said its profit last year beat its estimate by 6.7 percent because of rising sales of motorcycles and outboard motors.
Net income totaled 64 billion yen ($537 million) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, compared with its estimate of 60 billion yen, Yamaha said in a release today. Sales were 1.38 trillion yen, compared with the company's estimate of 1.32 trillion yen, Yamaha said.
Yamaha, which competes with Honda Motor Co. and Suzuki Motor Corp., is expanding in Southeast Asia, North America and Europe. The company, based in central Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture, is trying to increase its share of the global motorcycle market to 12 percent in 2007 from 9.9 percent in 2004.
A weaker yen against foreign currencies such as the dollar and euro helped increase Yamaha's operating profit by 6.7 billion yen in 2005 to 103.3 billion yen, the company said. The company in October said it based its earnings estimate on 105 yen against the dollar and 135 yen to the euro.
The maker of Majesty scooters derives about 56 percent of sales from its motorcycle business. Yamaha said it expects 2006 profit to rise to 65 billion yen from an estimated sales of 1.45 trillion yen.
No year-earlier comparison was available because it's the first time for Yamaha to report earnings based on the calendar year. Previously, its fiscal year began in April.
Yamaha shares, which doubled in 2005, rose 0.9 percent to 2,915 yen, at the 11 a.m. trading break in Tokyo.
