Salt Lake City, Utah-Based Energy Firm Expects Earnings To Beat Estimates.

Mar. 29--SALT LAKE CITY--Questar Corp. expects first quarter earnings to exceed analyst projections by as much as 20 percent.

Company officials stressed most of the income jump will come from for-profit, unregulated subsidiaries, not from the regulated, gas-delivery utility, Questar Gas.

First Call/Thomson of Boston estimates Questar Corp. first quarter earnings at 67 cents per diluted share. "We think earnings will be 10 to 20 percent higher than that," said Curt Burnett, Questar vice president of public affairs.

That could equate to an increase of nearly 30 percent from the first quarter of 2000 when earnings were 62 cents per share or about $50.2 …