Buoyed by strong sales overseas, Honda Motor Co. on Wednesday reported record high net income and sales for the 1997 October-December quarter.

Honda said its consolidated net income for the fiscal third quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 1997, rose 5.3 percent to 65.2 billion yen from a year earlier, while its consolidated pretax profit increased to 122 billion yen, up 26.1 percent from the corresponding quarter in 1996.

The automaker said its consolidated sales increased 16.6 percent to 1.55 trillion yen, posting record high sales for a quarter. While the company's domestic car sales showed only 0.5 percent growth from the same period last year, its overseas auto sales rose 12 percent. Overseas figures were especially boosted by brisk sales in North America and Europe, the company said.

Honda's consolidated operating income for the three-month period totaled 127 billion yen, up 26.3 percent from a year earlier. The firm also announced its consolidated financial results for the first nine months of the current business year, which ended on Dec. 31, 1997.

The automaker reported that its consolidated pretax profit increased 32.9 percent to 344.6 billion yen and its group's net profit rose 22.2 percent to 191.6 billion yen in the nine-month period from a year earlier.

The company said the group's good financial results were also helped by cost-cutting efforts and the depreciation of the yen. The yen averaged 120.99 yen against the dollar during the nine-month period, 9.2 percent lower than during the corresponding period last year.