China Southern Airlines Company Limited (China Southern) posted upsurge in profits in the first quarter from the low base last year due to the rebounding domestic aviation demand and rising investment revenue.

In its unaudited quarterly results filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange Sunday, China Southern said its net profit attributable to shareholders of listing company increased 539.19 percent to 1.419 billion yuan (207.7 million U.S. dollars) in the first three months.

China Southern, the nation's largest carrier by transport capacity,swung to a net profit of 358 million yuan (52.49 million U.S. dollars) in 2009 after posting 4.8 billion yuan (702.8 million U.S. dollars) of loss in 2008.

Earnings per share jumped to 0.18 yuan in the first quarter, compared with 0.05 yuan for 2009. The company reported a loss of 0.74 yuan per share in 2008.

The Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed airline attributed its profit upsurge in the first quarter to rebounding domestic air traffic demand and improving investment revenue.

Share price of China Southern fell 2.17 percent to close at 9 yuan in Shanghai Friday but added 0.25 percent to 4.09 HK dollars in Hong Kong.