General Electric‘s (NYSE:GE) GE Healthcare division logged a double-digit profit increase during the 1st quarter on a 5% addition to the top line.

The industrial conglomerate’s healthcare segment reported operating profits of $585 million on sales of $4.30 billion for the 3 months ended March 31, compared with operating profits of $531 million on sales of $4.09 billion during the same period last year.

Overall, GE posted profits of $3.03 billion, or 31¢ per share, on sales of $35.18 billion for the quarter, representing a bottom-line decrease of 9.6% and a sales decrease of 8.2%.

Analysts were expecting adjusted EPS of 33¢, which GE beat by a penny, sending shares up 1.7% to $19.47 this morning as of about 11:50.

"This quarter we witnessed broad-based strength in orders across all our Infrastructure businesses and in both equipment and services. We see encouraging leading indicators driven by global growth," chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt said in prepared remarks. "We had a strong performance to kick off the year and the leading indicators support our 2012 framework. … We are prepared for a variety of global outcomes which positions us to deliver for our investors in 2012 and beyond."