Gemalto, the world's leading maker of computer chip-embedded cards widely used by credit companies and for a host of other applications, posted on Thursday a seven percent rise in first quarter sales owing for the most part to stronger demand from Asia.

Sales rose to 518 million euros ($674 million) in the three months from January through March, and the increase would have been nine percent at constant exchange rates, the company said in a statement.

For 2013 as a whole, Gemalto confirmed a previous outlook for "double digit expansion in both profit from operations and revenue at constant exchange rates."

A breakdown of the figures by region showed that Asian sales jumped by 11 percent to 107 million euros, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa turned in a six percent rise to 250 million.

North and South America accounted for 153 million euros in sales, an increase of seven percent.

In addition to the group's embedded software and devices, such as credit cards and mobile telephone SIM cards, Gemalto sells software platforms and services.

Two sectors in particular boosted the results, Secure Transactions, and Security, both of which posted posted double-digit increases and together accounted for 45 percent of all sales.

"With this good start, we are on track to deliver on our strong 2013 outlook," chief executive Olivier Piou was quoted as saying.

"Gemalto's next long-term development plan and objectives will be announced in the second part of the year," the statement added.