April 24 (Reuters) - Humana beat first-quarter

profit expectations on Wednesday, helped by strength in its

government-backed Medicare Advantage insurance business for

older adults.

On an adjusted basis, Humana reported a profit of $7.23 per

share, higher than the average analyst estimate of $6.12 per

share, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing

by Shinjini Ganguli)