Mazda Motor Corp. on Wednesday reported record sales and profits in the first half of fiscal 2005, mainly due to brisk sales in Japan and China, and reductions in manufacturing costs.

The affiliate of Ford Motor Co. said its group net profit jumped 66 percent to a record 31.1 billion yen.

A one-time gain of 57 billion yen from a reduction in the company's portion of employees' state pension premiums also helped inflate the company's earnings, it said.

During the April-September half, operating profit grew 12 percent to a record 48.80 billion yen and sales rose 2.4 percent to an all-time high of 1.35 trillion yen.

Japanese automakers have been benefiting from the yen's weakness this fiscal year. The depreciation of the yen against the euro and the Australian dollar contributed to a roughly 4.1 billion yen rise in Mazda's operating profit during the first half.

In terms of sales volume, Mazda's global sales stood at some 626,000 units, up 6.7 percent from the previous year.

Domestic sales grew 4 percent to 141,000 vehicles, led by strong demand for the new Premacy minivan and the fully revamped Roadstar, the firm's iconic sports coupe known overseas as the MX-5.

Sales in the United States dropped by 1 percent to 138,000 vehicles. In Europe they declined by 3 percent to 138,000 units.

The firm attributed the slowdown in the U.S. to capacity constraints and the decline in Europe to the absence of new models. Mazda said it hopes sales will recover as it plans to launch new models in the latter half of the fiscal year.

In China, sales surged 52 percent to 67,000 vehicles.

For the full year to March, Mazda expects the depreciation of the yen against the dollar to continue.