Williams Cos 1st-qtr profit up, beats Street

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Williams Companies Inc (WMB.N), a natural gas producer, on Thursday said first-quarter profit nearly quadrupled, topping Wall Street forecasts, as higher production and prices, and the sale of some international assets boosted results.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma, company said its profit in the first quarter was $500 million, or 84 cents per diluted share, compared with $134 million, or 22 cents per diluted share in the same period a year ago.

Adjusting for hedges, Williams reported a profit from continuing operations of 57 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 51 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Williams also raised its 2008 profit forecast for exploration and production, midstream and gas pipeline and gas marketing businesses by $100 million to between $2.5 billion and $3.0 billion, or by 10 cents per share to between $1.70 and $2.10 per share.

Revenue in the quarter rose 36 percent to $3.22 billion.

In the quarter, Williams' average daily domestic production was 1.01 billion cubic feet equivalent per day, an increase of 20 percent.

(Reporting by Anna Driver, editing by Maureen Bavdek)