Strong sales from residential properties in Singapore and China pushed up the first-quarter earnings for CapitaLand.

Net profit for the quarter jumped by 41.2 per cent to $188.2 million for the three months ending March 31, compared to the same period last year.

Revenue grew to $661.9 million, up 3.2 per cent from the same three-month period last year.

This was contributed by its four strategic business units: CapitaLand Singapore, CapitaLand China, CapitaMalls Asia and Ascott.

Sales for the 544 residential units sold by CapitaLand Singapore amounted to $1.3 billion for the first quarter. This figure is similar to the total residential sales for the full financial year in 2012.

First quarterly residential sales for CapitaLand China grew three times that of the same quarter last year to $400 million. The 955 residential units sold were from The Metropolis in Kunshan, The Pinnacle and Paragon in Shanghai, The Loft in Chengdu and iPark under Raffles City Shenzhen.

Earnings per share for the quarter climbed by 41.9 per cent to 4.4 cents compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

Net asset value per share rose six cents to $3.61, from Dec 31 last year.

CapitaLand share price ended seven cents higher at $3.65.