Praxair Inc. said its normalized net income for the first quarter amounted to $1.16 per share, compared with the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate of $1.33 per share.

EPS rose 6.9% year over year from $1.09.

Normalized net income, which excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis, was $334.4 million, a gain of 7.2% from $311.9 million in the year-earlier period.

The normalized profit margin dropped to 12.3% from 12.4% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue rose 8.7% year over year to $2.73 billion from $2.51 billion, and total operating expenses increased 9.4% from the prior-year period to $2.14 billion from $1.96 billion.

Reported net income grew 9.1% on an annual basis to $388.0 million, or $1.35 per share, from $355.5 million, or $1.24 per share.