April 30 (Reuters) - Construction supplies company

Vulcan Materials ( VMC ) on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates

for first-quarter profit, helped by price hikes on supplies such

as sand, gravel and crushed stone.

These supplies are part of Vulcan's construction aggregates

business, its largest. The segment's gross profit rose 18% in

the quarter, while margins expanded 320 basis points to 26.7%.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based company has been raising

prices in the past few quarters to combat inflationary pressure

and sustained high interest rates that have impacted customer

affordability and softened residential construction activity.

On an adjusted basis, Vulcan reported a profit of $1 per

share in the quarter, ahead of analysts' average estimate of 78

cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company's total revenues rose 5.8% year-over-year to

$1.64 billion. Analysts, on average, had expected $1.65 billion.