Honda posted a 72 billion yen (US$774 million) first-quarter profit in a reversal from red ink a year earlier as booming demand in China and India combined with a fledgling United States recovery boosted car sales.

Honda Motor Co, Japan's second-largest auto maker, reported yesterday sales in the January-March quarter surged 28 percent from a year earlier to 2.28 trillion yen.

Honda sold 874,000 vehicles for the fiscal fourth quarter, up 28.5 percent from 680,000 the year before.

Honda's fortunes mirror similar recoveries at other Japanese auto makers, whose results were battered the previous year by the financial crisis.

Honda's sales in Japan were helped by tax breaks for "green" models and brisk demand for smaller models such as the Fit.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, Honda reported a 96 percent rise in profit to 268.4 billion yen. Sales of 8.58 trillion yen were down 14 percent from the previous year.

Honda is expecting better results for the fiscal year through March 31, 2011, forecasting 340 billion yen in profit, up 27 percent from the fiscal year just ended. Sales are projected to climb 9 percent to 9.34 trillion yen.