OSLO, April 29 (Reuters) - Norway’s Equinor raised its dividend and posted a bigger-than-expected rise in first-quarter operating profits on Thursday, boosted by higher oil and gas prices as well as large one-off gains at its renewable energy business. It will pay a dividend of $0.15 for the quarter, up from $0.12 paid for the final three months of 2020. Adjusted profit before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to $5.47 billion in the quarter from $2.05 billion during the same period a year ago, exceeding the $5.3 billion predicted in a poll of 22 analysts compiled by Equinor. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)