Publicly listed companies in the Philippines grew their net profit by an average 13.9 percent in the first quarter, led by earnings chalked up by the property and services sectors.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) reported Thursday that in peso terms, combined earnings of all companies listed on the local bourse amounted to P158.28 billion in the first three months compared to P138.96 billion in the same period last year.

Companies in the local stock stock barometer PSE index (PSEi) accounted for 70.4 percent of the net income generated by the market. The 30 blue chips included in the PSEi posted a combined profit of P111.41 billion in the first quarter, up 9.2 percent from the same period a year ago.

On the other hand, the consolidated revenues of all listed firms for the January-to-March 2015 period were marginally higher by 1.6 percent to P1.58 trillion from P1.55 trillion in the same period last year.

“We are optimistic that listed companies will be able to sustain their solid profit growth throughout 2015. This strong performance by corporate Philippines will remain to be one of the main drivers of stock market growth,” PSE president Hans Sicat said in a statement.

Five out of six sectors posted net income growths in the first quarter this year, led by the property sector whose combined profits soared 52.4 percent year-on-year to P27.42 billion. On a revenue basis, four of the six sectors recorded gains, again led by the property sector with a 22.4-percent year-on-year increase.

The combined income of the property sector was boosted by higher revenues recognized from real estate sales and leasing income alongside non-recurring share sale gain for one property firm.

Significant profit growth from airline companies and telecommunication firms were the main contributors to the increase in the consolidated profits of the services sector, which rose 27.9 percent year-on-year to P25.57 billion, the PSE said.