UPDATE 2-Alliant Energy Q1 profit tops Wall Street

(Recasts; adds CFO comments from conference call, details, updates share movement)

May 1 (Reuters) - Electricity and natural gas utility Alliant Energy Corp (LNT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a 7 percent jump in first-quarter profit, beating market estimates, helped partly by growth in its non-regulated businesses.

Revenue from non-regulated businesses, which include environmental engineering, construction management services for wind farms and freight services, rose 85 percent to $97.9 million.

Net income for the first quarter was $68.1 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with $63.9 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. Operating revenue rose about 9 percent to $992 million.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 61 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $974 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

"Led by RMT's WindConnect business, our non-regulated businesses posted solid results," Alliant Chief Financial Officer Eliot Protsch said in a conference call.

RMT is a unit of Alliant Energy that provides solid-waste management, air quality management and employee health and safety management services.

The company also backed its 2008 profit forecast of $2.55 to $2.75 a share. Analysts were expecting a profit of $2.69 a share, excluding items.

Alliant raised it 2008 outlook for non-regulated businesses to 21 cents to 25 cents per share from 19 cents to 23 cents per share.