Brazil steelmaker CSN Q1 profit edges up 0.6 pct

SAO PAULO, May 7 (Reuters) - Brazilian steelmaker CSN (CSNA3.SA)(SID.N) said on Wednesday profit edged up 0.6 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, when its earnings were inflated by a large one-time gain.

Net income rose to 767 million reais ($462 million) from 763 million reais in the first quarter of 2007, when the company registered a non-recurring gain of 255 million reais.

When compared to the 2007 fourth quarter, CSN's profit surged 51 percent, boosted by soaring domestic and international demand for steel products and high prices.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure of cash flow known as EBITDA, rose 26 percent from a year ago and 1 percent from the fourth quarter, to 1.3 billion reais.

Net revenue jumped 22 percent from a year earlier to 3 billion reais, the most the company has rung up for any quarter.

The domestic market accounted for 80 percent of CSN's sales in the first quarter. An economic boom in Brazil has helped revive the country's automobile industry, one of the main consumers of CSN's products.

CSN sold 1.4 million tonnes of steel products in the first quarter, up 17 percent from the year-earlier period. ($1=1.66 reais) (Reporting by Todd Benson; editing by John Wallace)