May 15 (Reuters) - European blue-chip companies are on track to deliver the strongest earnings growth since the fourth quarter of 2022, the latest LSEG I/B/E/S data showed on Thursday, though revenue was still expected to fall.

Buoyed by exceptional profits from the energy sector and a better-than-expected performance of financial companies, earnings of European blue-chips are now expected to have grown 11.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, on average.

That is based on results from 265 companies in the benchmark STOXX 600 index .STOXX and market estimates for those that are yet to report.

• European blue-chips are now expected to report a 0.4% decline in first-quarter revenue

• Revenues have lagged earnings in seven out of eight previous quarters

• Companies have taken measures to tackle the economic slowdown in recent years by optimising costs in order to improve their earnings

• European energy majors are seen posting profits 50.4% higher than those in the same period last year, thanks to higher oil prices as a result of the war in the Middle East

• Before the outbreak of the conflict, they were forecast to fall by 2%

• The European financial sector has also outperformed expectations, with 68% of companies posting earnings above estimates, according to the I/B/E/S data

• The real estate sector, on the other hand, is on track to deliver profits 23.9% below those of last year

• The STOXX 600 index is up 4% since the beginning of the year, but still about 3% below pre-war levels

• Norwegian and Spanish companies in the index are expected to deliver the highest earnings growth on average at 56.3% and 31.5%, respectively

• Meanwhile, respective profits of Portuguese and Danish firms are seen declining 34.3% and 8.5%