Honda Motor <7267.T> said on Monday it has decided to suspend share buybacks temporarily to preserve funds after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The automaker has said it is aiming for an annual shareholder return of about 30 percent, and its planned dividend of 54 yen per share and share buybacks done last year would bring the return to a little over 20 percent for the year ended in March.

The firm had been expected to carry out additional share repurchases to meet the target, but a company spokeswoman said it decided to put this on hold due to the need for cash to repair facilities damaged by the disaster.

(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Quake