SHENZHEN — Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE on Tuesday reported a profit rise in the first quarter on improved sales and margins.

In a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the company reported a year-on-year profit increase of 27.8 percent during January-March. Net profits totaled 1.2 billion yuan ($180 million).

Sales revenue jumped 17.8 percent to 25.8 billion yuan, up 17.8 percent from the same period a year ago. Earnings per share were 0.29 yuan.

The company said shipments of chipsets in the first quarter increased over 70 percent from the same period a year ago. To strengthen its position in 5G research, it is on track to start 5G-commercial deployments in the third quarter of 2018.

The quarterly results are its first financial report since the company was removed from the US trade blacklist on March 29.