Topeka ? Westar Energy Inc. on Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street projections as the electric utility was hurt by a 1 percent drop in revenue and higher operating expenses.

Quarterly income was $15.4 million, or 18 cents per share, compared to $15.4 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago. The per share results reflect additional shares issued last year.

Excluding items, the company reported earnings of $17 million, or 20 cents per share, up from $12.5 million, or 17 cents per share.

Westar reported revenue of $336.5 million, down from $340.3 million during the year-ago period. On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 27 cents per share for the quarter.

The utility reported it racked up extra expenses of $7.5 million due to increased maintenance, primarily for planned outages at two of the company’s generating stations, increased operating expenses associated with the termination of shared services agreements, and additional legal expense related to actions of the company’s former management and the settlement of two shareholder lawsuits.

Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed 2005 earnings of between $1.50 per share to $1.60 per share — below the $1.64 currently expected by analysts.

Shares fell 54 cents to close at $22.75 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.