UPDATE 2-Macy's posts profit, new FY view could fall short

* Q2 adj EPS $0.20 vs Wall Street $0.17

* Raises FY profit view, still could miss Street estimate

* Shares fall 2.2 pct in premarket trading (Recasts first sentence; adds CEO comment, details, background; updates stock action)

CHICAGO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Macy's Inc (M.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as it cut costs in the recession, but the department store operator's shares fell 2.2 percent in premarket trading as it offered a full-year earnings outlook that could miss Wall Street estimates.

Macy's net profit fell to $7 million, or 2 cents a share, in the second quarter ended Aug. 1, from $73 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, it earned 20 cents a share, above the 17 cents analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had expected.

"We successfully lowered inventories and managed expenses to align more closely with current levels of business," Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren said in a statement.

Earlier in August, Macy's had said it expected a profit before one-time items in the range of 15 to 17 cents a share, above the 5 cents analysts had forecast at the time.

Second-quarter sales fell 9.7 percent to $5.16 billion. Same-store sales fell 9.5 percent.