UPDATE 1-Delphi Financial posts higher Q1 profit

* Q1 oper EPS of $0.81 beats est of $0.55

* Q1 EPS $0.51

* Net investment income rises 94 pct

April 23 (Reuters) - Employee-insurance provider Delphi Financial Group Inc (DFG.N) posted a higher quarterly profit helped by a 94 percent surge in investment income.

For the first quarter, the company posted net profit of $24.5 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with a profit of $21.1 million, or 42 cents a share, last year.

Operating earnings, which excluded realized investment losses and impairment charges, were $38.8 million, or 81 cents a share during the quarter.

Analysts on average were looking for a profit of 55 cents a share, excluding items, according to Reuters Estimates.

Net investment income rose 94 percent to $62.9 million.

Shares of the company, which competes with Conesco Inc (CNO.N), Stancorp Financial Group Inc (SFG.N) and American Equity Investment Life Holding Co (AEL.N), closed at $16.63 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

For related alerts, please double click on [ID: nWNAB7339] (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore, Editing by Dinesh Nair)