UPDATE 2-American Apparel Q4 profit rises 30 pct, shares jump

* Q4 sales rise 31 pct to $145.6 mln

* Q4 same-store sales up 11 pct

* Shares rise as much as 13 pct (Recasts; adds analyst comments, conference call details, share movement)

March 17 (Reuters) - Clothing maker American Apparel Inc's (APP.A) fourth-quarter profit jumped 30 percent, helped by growth in higher-margin retail sales at its U.S. Retail, Canada and international business segments, sending its shares up about 13 percent.

The quarterly results place the company in an elite group of performers, especially considering the economic downturn and record-low consumer confidence, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Todd Slater wrote in a note to clients.

The company, which plans to open 25 to 30 stores in 2009, said it expects net sales of $575 million to $600 million in 2009 and income from operations of $55 million to $65 million.

Two analysts were expecting revenue of $639 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

American Apparel expects flat to mid single digit negative same-store sales for 2009, a company executive said in a conference call with analysts.

The company had cut production in the fourth quarter due to liquidity issues and that is ongoing through the first quarter, American Apparel said.

This is one of the reasons the company is hesitant to give outlook on how the first quarter will play out in 2009, American Apparel said during the call. The company -- known for its brightly colored basics, pro-labor policies and racy marketing -- also said it plans to cut its capital expenditure to a range of $20 million to $25 million in 2009, from $72 million in 2008. For the fourth quarter, the company posted a profit of $3.9 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $3.0 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.

Two analysts were looking at 8 cents a share, before items.

Gross margin rose to 55.4 percent from 54 percent a year ago.

Last week, American Apparel received about $80 million in financing from British private equity firm Lion Capital LLP, and said it plans to use it to repay outstanding amounts on an existing second lien credit facility. [ID:nN13430072]

Shares of the Los Angeles-based company rose 30 cents to $2.70 before paring some gains to trade up more than 9 percent at $2.63 Tuesday afternoon on the American Stock Exchange.

For related alerts, double click [ID:nWNAB4742] (Reporting by Renju Jose in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Deepak Kannan)