GUILDFORD, Britain (AP) _ Linde plc (LIN) on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $980 million.

On a per-share basis, the Guildford, Britain-based company said it had profit of $1.86. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $2.49 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.26 per share.

The gas supplier posted revenue of $7.24 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $7.07 billion.

For the current quarter ending in July, Linde expects its per-share earnings to range from $2.50 to $2.55.

The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $9.60 to $9.80 per share.

Linde shares have climbed 11% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 60% 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 LIN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/LIN

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