UPDATE 1-National Financial posts Q1 profit on lower expenses

* Q1 EPS $0.50 vs est $0.46

* Expenses down 74 pct

* Revenue up 4 pct

May 10 (Reuters) - Life insurance distributor National Financial Partners Corp (NFP.N) reversed a year-ago loss and reported quarterly profit above Wall Street estimates, helped by lower expenses.

Net income for the first quarter was $7.0 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $515.8 million, or $12.59 a share a year ago. Cash profit, which excludes certain unusual items, was 50 cents a share.

Analysts had expected the distributor of financial services products to earn 46 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue for the quarter rose about 4 percent to $225.3 million. Analysts expected $225.5 million.

Expenses fell 74 percent to $209.7 million.

Shares of the New York-based company closed at $14.40 in regular session on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)