UPDATE 1-Mexico's Bimbo Q1 net rises 26 pct on sales

(Adds sales details, background)

MEXICO CITY, April 23 (Reuters) - Mexican bread maker Bimbo said on Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose 26 percent on higher sales after a U.S. acquisition last year.

Bimbo (BIMBOA.MX), which has operations in the United States and Latin America, said it earned 1.027 billion pesos ($72.3 million) in the January-March period.

Bimbo, one of the world's top breadmakers, bought the U.S. bread-making unit of Canada's George Weston Ltd (WN.TO) for $2.38 billion in December, increasing its presence in the eastern United States.

Bimbo's sales in the first quarter were 28.3 billion pesos, up from 19.3 billion pesos in the year-ago period. Financing costs were 548 million pesos compared to 149 million pesos in the same period a year ago.

Sales jumped 46 percent in the quarter, but the company said that excluding the acquisition, sales would have risen 16 percent.

A family-run business founded more than 60 years ago, Bimbo grew from a tiny Mexico City bakery into a global player, feeding markets as far away as China and the Czech Republic with its pastries, flour tortillas and peanut snacks. ($1=14.21 at end-March) (Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing Bernard Orr)