Honda's operating profit doubles: Nikkei

(Reuters) - Carmaker Honda Motor Co (7267.T) likely doubled group operating profit for the nine months ended December to 500 billion yen ($6.08 billion), its target for the full year, on the back of robust emerging markets and North American sales, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The company may upgrade its 2010 operating profit of 500 billion yen on the surprise earnings recovery, the paper said.

The carmakers domestic sales declined after government subsidies on purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles expired in September. The slump however was offset by rising sales volume in Asia and in North America, the paper said.

Another boon to profit was the weaker yen, down from Honda's assumed rate of 80 to the dollar, the Nikkei reported.

For the October-December quarter, the company's operating profit exceeded 100 billion yen, beating the forecast, the business daily said.

(Reporting by Aditi Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)