MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s Banco BPM on Thursday posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter net profit helped by higher revenues and lower loan writedowns. Italy’s third-largest bank said its net profit for the three months to March was up 77.6% from a year earlier to 177.8 million euros ($187.3 million), higher than a 131 million-euro forecast in a Reuters analyst poll. First-quarter revenues totalled 1.186 billion euros, slightly above expectations and up 5.2% compared to the previous year, supported by strong trading gains and buoyant net interest income. ($1 = 0.9493 euros) (Reporting by A…