Women's apparel retailer Talbots Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly operating profit on Wednesday and reiterated its full-year earnings forecast, causing the shares to rise.

Net income declined 69 percent to $1.64 million, or 3 cents a share, on expenses to stop selling men's and children's clothing and other restructuring costs, Talbots said today in a statement.

Excluding a loss of $5.9 million, or 11 cents per share, from its Talbots Kids, Mens and U.K. noncore businesses - which the company is closing - and restructuring charges of $3.5 million, or 7 cents per share, net income from ongoing core operations was $11 million, or 21 cents per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 12 cents per share.

Sales fell 5 percent to $542.4 million from $573.6 million a year earlier. The results missed Wall Street's estimate of $546.5 million.

Total same-store sales fell 9.8 percent during the quarter, which included a 7.4 percent drop at Talbots and a 20.2 percent decline at J. Jill.

The retailer said its monthly sales instead of quarterly clearance events have helped. Merchandise gross margin, or the percentage of sales after the cost of goods sold, should continue to improve this quarter, Sullivan said in the statement.

Talbots, based in Hingham, Massachusetts, rose 24 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $7.68 as of 11:23 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

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