COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS) on Thursday reported first-quarter profit of $286.2 million.

On a per-share basis, the Columbus, Ohio-based company said it had profit of $5.74. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $6.28 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.23 per share.

The manager of loyalty and rewards programs for retailers and others posted revenue of $1.08 billion in the period, which matched Street forecasts.

Alliance Data shares have risen 46% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has climbed 11%. The stock has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ADS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ADS

Copyright by Automated Insights, Inc. All rights reserved., source Associated Press News