Honda Motor Co. said Friday its group net profit rose 8.1 percent in the first quarter of business 2008 — but only because a technical factor pushed up profits that were eroded by the yen's appreciation and soaring raw materials costs.

For the three months to June, Japan's second-biggest automaker logged ¥179.61 billion in net profit — its highest-ever quarterly profit.

Group sales slipped 2.2 percent from a year earlier to ¥2.87 trillion and operating profit edged down 0.2 percent to ¥221.35 billion.