Egyptian auto distributor GB Auto made a 5.8 percent rise in net profit in the first quarter, the firm said in a stock exchange statement on Thursday.

Profit rose to 71.5 million Egyptian pounds ($10.17 million) from 67.58 million a year earlier, it said in a separate statement, and revenues rose by 28.1 percent to 2.6 billion pounds.

GB Auto, which is the Egyptian distributor of three-wheeler tuk-tuks and motorbikes made by India's Bajaj, had said earlier this year a one-year government ban on those vehicles would have a limited effect on the firm's 2014 profits.

"Strong growth in key lines of business minimized the impact on our bottom line of a ban in Egypt on new imports of motorcycles and three-wheelers," GB Auto Chief Executive Officer Raouf Ghabbour said in the statement.

The firm's passenger cars division made a 39.1 percent increase in revenues to 2 billion pounds as sales of Hyundai, Geely and Mazda cars all grew in the Egyptian market.

The firm's motorcycle and three-wheeler revenues dropped by 20.4 percent on reduced sales due to the import ban, GB Auto said. – Reuters