Burlington-based health care company Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings reported a 17 percent increase in net earnings for the first quarter due the company’s strong growth.

LabCorp reported net earnings of $192.2 million, or $1.84 per share, a 17 percent increase from $164.1 million, or $1.58 per share, in the first quarter of 2016, matching analyst projections.

Net revenue for LabCorp increased 4.9 percent over the last year to $2.41 billion from $2.29 billion. The revenue was slightly below analyst estimates.

LabCorp maintains multiple subsidiaries, including LabCorp Diagnostics and Covance Drug Development. LabCorp Diagnostics reported $1.72 billion, an 8 percent increase, in net revenue for the first quarter of 2017.

The gains in revenue produced by LabCorp Diagnostics were partially offset by a decline of 1.8 percent in net revenue to $690.3 million from Covance Drug Development.

LabCorp announced projections of 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent net revenue growth in 2017 from a net revenue of $9.44 billion in 2016.

The company’s stock price is trading at $18.83, down $5.68 or 3.94 percent in afternoon trading.

Note: This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism