Orkla ASA said its normalized net income for the first quarter amounted to 54 Norwegian øre per share, compared with the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate of 55 øre per share.

EPS climbed 45.3% year over year from 37 øre.

Normalized net income, which excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis, was 547.8 million kroner, an increase of 45.5% from 376.4 million kroner in the prior-year period.

The normalized profit margin climbed to 7.3% from 5.4% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue grew 7.5% on an annual basis to 7.54 billion kroner from 7.01 billion kroner, and total operating expenses increased 7.3% on an annual basis to 6.83 billion kroner from 6.37 billion kroner.

Reported net income rose 42.0% year over year to 629.0 million kroner, or 62 øre per share, from 443.0 million kroner, or 44 øre per share.

As of May 7, US$1 was equivalent to 7.49 Norwegian kroner.