Nissan Motor Co. reported Friday a 27 percent decline in profit for the July-September quarter on one-time expenses and higher taxes that eroded overall sales growth and improved earnings in core auto operations.

Profit at Nissan for the three months through September totaled ¥120.1 billion, down from ¥164 billion the previous year.

Quarterly sales at Japan's No. 3 automaker surged 13 percent year on year to ¥2.62 trillion, as sales grew in the U.S., Europe, Russia and China.

Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the company is coming out of a lull to start its next stage of growth as it expands in emerging markets and launches new models, suggesting better results can be expected soon.

"With many further exciting products to come, Nissan is back on track toward sustainable profitable growth," he said. "You can expect more in the second half."

Nissan maintained its profit forecast for the full business year ending next March, at ¥480 billion.

For the July-September quarter, Nissan sold 941,000 vehicles worldwide, up 6.6 percent compared with a year ago.

What hurt results was the absence of tax breaks the company got in the same period a year ago, according to Nissan. Extra expenses for the latest quarter for an early retirement package in Japan also trimmed profits, it said.

Tokyo-based Nissan, which makes the Altima sedan, Infiniti luxury model and GT-R sports car, had fallen behind its rivals in terms of research while experiencing hard times. It marked a turnaround from near collapse under an alliance set up in 1999 with Renault SA of France.

Ghosn said Nissan was investing in technology, including new engines and safety features, which are being introduced in products. Nissan is focusing on electric cars, which will be commercially mass marketed by 2012, and is also preparing its own hybrid car by 2010, he said.