www.Maidenform.com

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Intimate apparel maker Maidenform Brands Inc (MFB.N) posted a third-quarter profit that beat estimates, helped by strong sales of its shapewear products, and forecast fourth-quarter earnings in a range, the mid-point of which was below Wall Street's expectations.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings in the range of 17 cents a share to 21 cents a share.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 20 cents a share, before items, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company expects sales to increase 3 percent to 6 percent for the period, it said in a statement.

The company, whose brands include its namesake brand and Flexees and Lilyette, also raised its full-year adjusted earnings view to $1.16 a share to $1.20 a share, up from its prior view of $1.10 a share to $1.16 a share.

For the latest quarter ended Oct. 3, the company posted a net profit of $16 million, or 67 cents a share, compared with $8.4 million, or 36 cents a share, last year.

Excluding items, it earned 42 cents a share.

Net sales for the quarter rose 14 percent to $128.7 million, with sales of its shape-improving underwear up 15 percent.

Analysts on average expected the company to earn 35 cents per share, before items, on revenue of $129 million.

Shares of the Iselin, New Jersey-based company closed at $16.19 Tuesday 10 November on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)