Japan's Honda Motor reported a 15% decline in second-quarter operating profit at 257.9 billion yen ($1.68 billion), on Wednesday, missing analysts' expectations while keeping its full-year profit forecast.

Honda Motor cut its annual forecasts for car sales and net profit after posting a drop in first-half earnings. The Japanese automaker said Wednesday that net profit dropped 20% from a year earlier to 494.

Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co on Wednesday reported profit before taxes of 741.953 billion yen ($4.8 billion) for the first half, lower than 879.285 billion yen in the same period a year ago, primarily impacted by loss on investments as well as finance costs.