TOKYO -- Honda Motor is struggling with longer-than-expected chip shortages and says supply bottlenecks will only start to clear early next year, making it hard for the Japanese automaker to make up for recent lost output within this fiscal year through March 2022.

Honda on Friday cut its full-year net profit forecast to 555 billion yen ($4.8 billion), mainly due to supply disruptions. Previously it had expected a net profit of 670 billion yen.

"Last time [in August], we assumed that production would partly recover in the second half of this fiscal year," Honda Executive Vice President Seiji Kuraishi said at a news conference, citing one-off factors such as a fire at a plant owned by Japanese automotive chipmaker Renesas Electronics and winter storms in Texas earlier in the year.

"But this time, the supply of parts has become even more severe due to the prolonged lockdown in Asia. ... [Supplies] are expected to recover from the beginning of the year, but a recovery in production will be difficult during this fiscal term," he said.

In addition to global chip shortages, COVID-19 restrictions are impeding production of parts in Southeast Asia and continuing to weigh on the automaker. Although a weaker yen and lower incentive costs for dealerships in North America are expected to lift Honda's operating profit, the slowdown in sales caused by the chip crunch will hit the company's bottom line harder.

Honda now predicts it will sell 4.2 million cars this fiscal year, down 13% from its previous forecast. This is the second downward revision in its unit-sales forecast this fiscal year, which initially stood at 5 million cars. Its operating profit is now expected to be 660 billion yen, on par with the previous fiscal year.

In the July to September quarter, Honda sharply reduced monthly output, including September's 30% year-on-year cut. This resulted in lower unit sales than last year in all the company's major markets, including Japan, the U.S. and China.

The slowdown in production continues to drag on the company, with Honda announcing declines in output at its plants in Japan of 30% in October and 10% this month.

Honda's forecast for a slow recovery in production comes in stark contrast to Toyota Motor, which on Thursday said it would gear up in the coming months to make up for lost output.

Shiraishi said the chip shortage has prompted the company to consider contingency measures to secure the critical components. These include stockpiling inventory, purchasing chips directly from manufacturers and signing long-term contracts with chipmakers. "We are even thinking of testing commercially available semiconductors," Kuraishi said.

Honda reported a net profit of 389 billion yen for the half-year through September, up 143% from the previous year, when it was hit hard by the pandemic.

Honda's profits mostly come from its financial services business. Propelled by economic stimulus measures, robust loans and leases are helping to make up for lackluster profits in its car business, a long-term challenge for the company. The auto business's operating margin stood at 2.1% for the latest quarter, compared with 5.1% a year earlier.

Honda vowed in April to sell only electric and fuel cell vehicles by 2040, making it the only Japanese automaker so far to announce a complete phaseout of gasoline-powered cars. In September, it said it would enter new fields, including the small satellite launch business and making flying cars.

The automaker will raise its research and development spending to a record 5 trillion yen over the next six years to move into these new areas.