Suzuki posts steeper-than-expected quarterly profit slide on sluggish car sales

TOKYO (Reuters) - Suzuki Motor Corp reported on Thursday a 6.6 percent slide in operating profit in the second quarter as vehicle sales eased in China, Europe and India, its biggest market.

Japan's No. 4 automaker said it was also affected by weakness in emerging market currencies.

Suzuki posted an 82 billion yen ($726 million) operating profit in the July-September period, down from 87.81 billion yen a year ago, and undershooting a mean estimate of 93.77 billion yen in a poll of 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data.

Suzuki raised its forecast full-year operating profit to 350 billion yen from a previous estimate of 340 billion yen, assuming the Japanese currency will trade around 108 yen.

This compared to a mean forecast of 411.32 billion yen from 22 analysts polled by Refinitiv.

($1 = 112.8300 yen)

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; editing by Darren Schuettler)