TORONTO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Clothing retailer Lululemon Athletica (LLL.TO) (LULU.O) said on Wednesday 9 December its third-quarter profit jumped nearly 60 percent, topping earlier expectations, helped by strong demand for its trendy yoga and fitness wear.

Photo: www.lululemon.com

The company also said it expects the current quarter to produce even stronger results.

Vancouver-based Lululemon said net income rose to $14.1 million, or 20 diluted cents a share, in the quarter ended Nov. 1 up from $8.8 million, or 13 cents, for the same time a year earlier.

Revenue rose 29.7 percent to $112.9 million.

Analysts were expecting an average of 19 cents a diluted share, and revenue of $111.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S/.

Same-store sales, which tracks the performance of stores open for at least a year, rose 10 percent.

Lululemon said in late October that it expected EPS of between 17 cents and 19 cents for the three months ending Nov. 1. Previously, it had forecast earnings in a range of 11 cents to 13 cents a share.

It also forecast revenue of between $110 million and $112 million, up from previous guidance of between $95 million and $100 million and same-store sales of a "high-single digit increase" on a constant dollar basis.

The company said its outlook for its diluted earnings per share in the fourth-quarter was in the range of 26 to 28 cents a share, with revenue of $140 million to $145 million. That is based on a comparable-store sales increase in the mid teens on a constant-dollar basis.

Lululemon posted its results after market close. Its shares, which have jumped over 200 percent so far this year, ended up 2.6 percent at C$29.24 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company's Nasdaq-listed shares ended up 3.2 percent at $27.67. ($1=$1.05 Canadian) (Reporting by John McCrank)