UPDATE 1-Noble Corp 1st-qtr profit soars 54 pct, tops Street

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HOUSTON, April 23 (Reuters) - Noble Corp (NE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its first-quarter earnings rose 54 percent, exceeding Wall Street estimates, as oil and gas exploration companies paid higher day rates for its offshore drilling rigs.

Shares of Noble jumped 3 percent to $58.60 in post-market trading.

Profit soared to $384 million, or $1.43 per diluted share, from $250 million, or 93 cents per diluted share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

The 2008 results included a charge of 3 cents per share related to a bribery probe of the company's Nigerian operations. Excluding the charge, the company earned $1.46 per share.

On that basis, analysts, on average, expected a profit of $1.32 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

The average daily rental rate for the company's rigs jumped 35 percent from a year ago to $163,772.

Sugar Land, Texas-based Noble added almost $5 billion in possible revenue backlog during the first quarter.

Quarterly revenue was $861 million, up from $646 million.