HELSINKI (Reuters) - Shares in Finnish Raisio (RAIVV.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 6 percent on Monday after the food group posted better-than-expected first-quarter sales and profits, boosted by results in its feed and malt division.

Raisio's January-March operating profit rose to 4.2 million euros ($6.5 million) from 1.2 million the previous year, above average analyst forecast of 3.2 million of 7 analysts in Reuters Estimates.

The company reported sales of 119 million euros, above the average forecast of 103 million.

"It was better-than-expected in all segments, especially in feed and malt, which is quite surprising given that they said that profitability is under pressure in that segment," said Kaupthing analyst Martin Sundman.

Operating profit at Raisio's feed and malt unit rose to 1.7 million euros from 0.5 million the previous year.

"They might have been able to sell old inventories and maybe the purchasing price hike is not yet seen in this quarter -- I expect the profitability improvement will not be that big in the latter part of the year."

Shares in Raisio were up 6 percent at 1.77 euros by 0755 GMT.

CEO Matti Rihko said the divestment of unprofitable operations, cost-cutting measures and flexible pricing has helped the company to boost the operating result across all units.

Raisio's struggling food division turned into black as it posted an operating profit, excluding one-offs, of 0.6 million euros, up from a loss of 0.9 million the previous year.