REX American Resources on Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue rose to $151 million as the company continued to build its ethanol plant resources.

The former appliance retailer turned ethanol plant operator and investor said gross profit from consolidated alternative energy operations rose 15.3 percent to $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2012 from $4.8 million in last year’s first quarter.

CEO Stuart Rose said initiatives to expand interests in state-of-the-art ethanol plants in the corn belt overall operating discipline at both the plant and corporate level drove industry out-performance.

“We believe our expanded scale has positioned REX as one of the leading companies in the ethanol industry and we remain focused on achieving long-term growth,” Rose said.