April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher volumes of natural gas transported through its pipelines.

The Houston, Texas-based firm posted an adjusted profit of 48 cents per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts' estimate of 40 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)