SINGAPORE - Roxy-Pacific Holdings saw first-quarter earnings surge threefold, as revenue swelled by 146 per cent.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31 jumped 210 per cent to reach $46.5 million, said the property and hospitality group in a statement on Tuesday, after the stock market closed.

Revenue came in at $198.2 million, much higher than the $79.5 million from the same period a year ago, driven mainly by "healthy growth" in its property development and property investment segments.

This "more than offset a slight decline" from its hotel ownership segment, said the group.

Earnings per share rose to 3.89 cents for the quarter, more than three times the 1.25 cents previously. Net asset value per share stood at 37.33 cents as at Mar 31, up from 33.54 cents at Dec 31 last year.

Executive chairman and chief executive Teo Hong Lim noted that the group's performance was "mainly boosted by Centropod's temporary occupation permits in January this year, and the joint venture projects through partnerships that we have formed withreputable industry players".

Centropod@Changi is a commercial development project that was completed in January.

"Whilst we will prudently look for land acquisitions in Singapore, the market conditions are expected to remain relatively soft this year," added Mr Teo.

"To counter this, we have selectively expanded into markets in the region where we see good growth potential, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, Thailand and Japan, to build up our quality asset base in both the property and hotels segments.

"The over-riding strategy, apart from having a better geographical spread, is also to diversify beyond residential developments to include commercial and hotel assets, and at the same time, to broaden our recurring revenue stream."