Honda Q4 jumps 142 pct, sees rosy year after disasters

TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co posted a 142.3 p ercent j ump in quarterly operating profit on Friday as production recovered from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year.

Operating profit for the January-March fourth-quarter was 111.98 billion yen ($1.39 billion), slightly lagging an average estimate of 123.2 billion yen in a survey of 23 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net profit, which includes earnings made in China, rose 60.7 percent to 71.59 billion yen.

Honda suffered the most from the disasters in Japan and Thailand last year, and only re-started work at its Thai car plant at the end of March after a six-month hiatus.

Honda's shares have risen about 5.5 percent in the past three months, lagging gains of around 14 percent by both Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co.