IN THE same week that Swindon’s shopping centres reported recession busting increases, Honda has announced even more good news.

Despite the country entering into a double-dip recession, Honda Motors reported a 61 per cent jump in first quarter profits as car and motorcycle sales recovered from a year of disasters.

The company, based in South Marston, announced a net income for the January to March period was 71.5bn yen, or £547m. This was up from 44.5bn yen for the same period last year.

However, Honda suffered serious production disruptions following the tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand last year which resulted in a 60 per cent drop in profits until March 31.

A spokesman for Honda said: “While production and profit were severely affected by external factors during the last fiscal year, Honda continues to display a solid constitution and is planning a strong recovering during the forthcoming year, forecasting an all-time record of 4.3m automobile sales, compared to 3.1m during the previous year.

“This will be driven by new model changes for major models and the introduction of new models, coupled with expansion of production capacity in North America and China.

“Increases in motorcycle and power product unit sales to 16.6m and 6.3m respectively are also planned.”

Analysts are expecting Honda's rivals – Toyota and Nissan – to see a similar recovery in the first quarter of the year.

Honda, the third largest car maker in Japan, was thought to have been the worst hit of all the Japanese car makers.

It was the last to get its supply chains back in order after the huge earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Its car plant in Thailand was only back in operation at the end of March 2012 after it suffered a a six-month disruption due to the floods in October.

Honda is forecasting record global vehicle sales in the next financial year with a jump of almost 30 per cent.