Shares of Canadian train and jet maker Bombardier Inc. jumped sharply after it said on Tuesday that its profit more than tripled in its fiscal first quarter on strong U.S private jet orders, beating Wall Street estimates.

The company earned $79 million, or 4 cents per share for the quarter ending April 30, up from $24 million, or 1 cent per share earned during the same period a year ago.

Revenue also rose strongly, climbing to $4 billion from $3.5 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of three cents a share on revenue of $3.62 billion.

Shares rose 75 Canadian cents, or 15.7 percent, to C$5.53 in mid-day trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

We had a strong first quarter, with both groups contributing solid results, said Laurent Beaudoin, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Bombardier Inc.

At aerospace, business aircraft continue to attract a substantial level of new orders. We're now also seeing the U.S. airline industry rebounding, as demonstrated by a higher level of regional aircraft orders compared to last year.

The aerospace division, maker of the Learjet and other business aircraft, gained of $2.3 billion dollars in sales, up from $2 billion a year earlier. It delivered 78 airplanes in the quarter, up from 77 a year ago. It also booked orders for 174 business and regional jets, more than triple the 52 a year ago.

In its rail unit, the Montreal-based firm booked $3 billion dollars in new orders, up from $1.7 billion.