British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has scaled back its forecasts for airline capacity over the next three years as it posted a rise in passenger numbers last month.

The airline giant reduced its forecasts for expected growth in available seats per kilometre to 3.4% for the years from 2019 to 2023, from its previous prediction of 6%.

IAG also reduced its forecasts for growth in earnings per share to 10% from 12% due to lower planned capacity growth.

However, it held firm on long-term profit margin forecasts as it said it still expects to deliver an operating profit margin of between 12% and 15% for the next three years.

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It made the announcement as it also revealed a 3.4% jump in passenger numbers for October against the same period last year.

IAG saw passenger numbers rise to 10.3 million in October, from 10 million in the same month for 2018 on the back of growth across its core brands.

This represented a slowdown compared to the company's total growth over the year to date, which has seen passenger numbers increase by 4.7% over the past nine months.

The group reported a 4.9% rise in passengers on domestic flights, while numbers travelling across Europe rose by 1.6%.

Passenger revenue per kilometre, one of the industry's preferred metrics, increased by 4.8% driven by double-figure growth for domestic flights and those in Latin America and the Caribbean.

British Airways saw passenger numbers rise a more modest 1.1% to 4.2 million. The airline has seen passenger numbers increase by 1.2% over the year-to-date, IAG said.

Scottish care home investor Target Healthcare has snapped up 39 properties across the UK in an £81.3 million deal.

The Stirling-based real estate investment trust has agreed to buy seven care homes in Yorkshire, a facility in Dorset and 31 retirement apartments in Gloucestershire.

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The acquisitions follow an £80 million share placing by the company in September, which it said would fund expansion opportunities.

Target said the acquisitions had been identified prior to the fundraiser and added that it was "very pleasing" that it was able to use the funds so swiftly.

The purchases of five of the care homes have been completed, while contracts have been exchanged on the two other care homes, which will all be let back to current tenants.

John Flannelly, head of investment at Target Fund Managers, said: "Having completed the successful September fundraising, it is very pleasing to have deployed the proceeds so soon after, in a group of assets that meet our strict investment criteria and at yields that are consistent with previous similar acquisitions.

"At the same time, we are further strengthening the group's relationship with existing tenants whilst delivering continued portfolio diversification, a key focus for the group.

"There is continued strong investor appetite for the stable and sustainable long-duration rental income available from care home real estate, and we continue to develop our pipeline of further opportunities, leveraging our deep sector experience and proprietary in-house research capabilities."

The acquisitions came as Target reported a quarterly business update which revealed a 0.7% increase in like-for-like value to £511.4 million across its portfolio for the period to September 30.

Honda has become the latest car maker to report weaker earnings as global demand softens.

The company said its profit in the July-September period fell 6.7% from a year earlier to 196.5 billion yen (£1.4 billion) as vehicle and motorcycle sales slipped.

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The Tokyo-based firm said an unfavourable exchange rate also hurt earnings.

Honda's quarterly revenue declined 2.9% to 3.7 trillion yen (£26 billion) as sales declined in the US, Japan, the rest of Asia and Europe.

Honda, which makes the Odyssey minivan and Asimo robot, said higher tax expenses also hurt results.

Honda lowered its full-year net profit forecast for the fiscal year through to March 2020 to 575 billion yen (£4 billion).

That is down from the 645 billion yen (£4.6 billion) estimate given in August, and below the 610 billion yen (£4.3 billion) earned in the previous fiscal year.

Honda said its financial services business did well, helping to offset some of the damage from other divisions.

Honda officials acknowledged that more needs to be done to reduce costs. They said a promised restructuring is under way.