Record quarterly profit for Honda

Honda Motor Co. reported record profit for a fiscal first quarter Friday as sales growth in new markets offset the damage from a stronger yen and soaring material costs.

Honda, Japan’s No. 2 automaker, earned a better-than-expected 179.6 billion yen ($1.68 billion) in the April-June quarter, up 8.1% from the same period the previous year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast 131.3 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in quarterly profit.

Revenue for the quarter declined 2.2% from a year earlier to 2.867 trillion yen ($26.79 billion), largely because the rising yen eroded the value of overseas earnings.

Honda sold 962,000 vehicles worldwide, more than in any other fiscal first quarter and up 1.7% over last year.