OSLO, April 24 (Reuters) - Norwegian independent oil company Aker BP on Wednesday posted a higher-than-expected net profit for the first quarter as production hit a record while costs fell.

The company, partly owned by BP, reported a net profit of $531 million for January-March, up from $187 million a year earlier, beating a $470 million forecast in a company-compiled poll of analysts. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)