Showa earmarks funds for increased capacity.

Showa Corp., an affiliate of Japan's Honda Motor Co. Ltd., plans to increase capital investments during the next three years to $254.8 million, a 35% increase from the previous three-year period. The company says the increased outlay is an attempt to meet growing demand for motorcycle parts

Showa's consolidated sales rose 6.4% to 233.5 billion yen in the year ended March 31. The company posted a 21.4% hike in net profit to 9.2 billion yen for the year.

Motorcycle parts sales generated 30% of Showa's total sales in fiscal 2004 and were up 9.7% from sales in the previous year. Showa's automotive segment accounted for 68% of the company's total sales in fiscal 2004, up 5.4%.

Showa says 13.6 billion yen of the capital investment will be spent in Japan while 13.4 billion yen will be earmarked for operations abroad--particularly on motorcycle parts production in China and Indonesia, where the annual output capacity will be raised to an amount sufficient for 3.5 million two-wheelers, up from 3 million at present.