First-quarter sales and profits for Rex Stores Corp. skyrocketed thanks largely to a strong performance in Rex’s investments in alternative energy, executives said Thursday, May 27.

For the quarter ended April 30, the alternative energy and commercial real estate company posted a profit attributable to shareholders of $4.2 million, or 43 cents per share, versus a loss of $1.7 million, or 19 cents per share, a year ago.

Sales for the period reached $71.3 million, compared with $14.2 million during the prior first quarter, company executives said.

The alternative-energy segment generated $71 million in sales and ended the quarter with a profit of $8.6 million. The real estate segment lost $428,000 during the quarter.

Rex left the retail business in fiscal 2009. Senior management has proposed changing the company’s name to Rex American Resources Corp. and its trading symbol to ‘REX.’

Shares of the company (NYSE: RSC) were trading at $16.08 during the morning session, an increase of 60 cents per share, or 3.8 percent.