May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. utility Sempra ( SRE ) beat

first-quarter profit estimates on Thursday, benefiting from

strong performance of its California segment.

Shares of the company were up 1.3% in early trading.

The San Diego, California-based company develops and

operates energy infrastructure, and provides electric and gas

services to about 40 million customers. Its segments include

Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra

Infrastructure.

Sempra California, that serves around 25 million customers,

saw lower operating expenses and cost of capital, which boosted

net income by 24% to $724 million for the quarter ended March

31.

The segment's total electric deliveries jumped about 1% to

4.15 million kilowatt-hours (kWhs), but natural gas deliveries

saw a slight decline.

Overall revenue from natural gas operations, however, rose

nearly 12% to $2.36 billion helping offset the impact from

higher operation and maintenance expenses, which were up 10.8%.

Sempra ( SRE ) reaffirmed its full-year 2025 adjusted profit

forecast to be between $4.30 and $4.70 per share. Analysts

estimated a profit of $4.52 per share, according to data

compiled by LSEG.

The firm reported an adjusted profit of $1.44 per share for

the January-to-March quarter, above estimates of $1.32 per

share, according to data compiled by LSEG.