Argentina's Grupo Galicia 1st-qtr net profit jumps

BUENOS AIRES, May 12 (Reuters) - Leading Argentine banking conglomerate Grupo Financiero Galicia (GFG.BA) (GGAL.O) reported on Tuesday a first-quarter net profit of 91.9 million pesos ($24.2 million), up from 36.2 million pesos a year ago.

The net profit beat market expectations. A Reuters poll of five analysts had put the company's net at a median of 71 million pesos, with estimates ranging from 48 million to 94.9 million pesos.

Grupo Galicia said in a statement to the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange that it had prepaid debt in an operation that helped boost net profit by 154 percent year-on-year. ($1 = 3.7925 pesos on March 31) (Reporting by Lucas Bergman and Hilary Burke)