SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's leading supermarket operator D&S said on Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose 11.7 percent compared with the same period last year, as sales grew.

D&S DIS.SN (DYS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which owns Chile's Lider supermarket chain, said it posted net income of 11.08 billion pesos ($25.3 million), compared with 9.92 billion pesos in the first quarter of 2007.

Revenues rose 5.6 percent in the quarter to 468.14 billion from 443.46 billion in the first quarter of 2007.

"This variation is due to a nominal sales increase of 12.5 percent and a 7.0 percent increase in revenue from the financial division," D&S said in a statement.

D&S has announced it plans to speed up its expansion plans after Chile's anti-monopoly tribunal ruled in January against a merger with fellow top retailer Falabella FAL.SN -- a deal that would have created Latin America's No. 2 retail group, with a market value of about $15 billion.

A year ago, D&S unveiled plans to invest $1 billion through 2010, expanding to at least three countries in the region.

($1 = 437.71 Chilean pesos at the end of March)

(Reporting by Rodrigo Martinez; Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Brian Moss)