Honda profit surges on sales recovery

TOKYO — Honda’s quarterly profit surged nearly 63 percent as production recovered after disruptions from natural disasters.

The Japanese automaker reported a 77.4 billion yen ($850 million) profit for the October-December period Thursday, as sales jumped nearly 25 percent to 2.4 trillion yen ($26 billion).

All the Japanese automakers are seeing a dramatic recovery from the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in 2011. Honda was also hurt by flooding in Thailand in late 2011.

The automakers are also reporting solid sales increases in the key U.S. market and in Asian countries such as India and Indonesia. The exception is China where anti-Japanese sentiment flared up last year over a territorial dispute.

Honda reported quarterly sales growth in all key global regions as well as in its motorcycle business.