May 19 (Reuters) - Fashion apparel retailer Citi Trends Inc (CTRN.O) posted better-than-expected first-quarter results, helped by better same-store sales, and raised its profit outlook for the full year.

Photo: www.cititrends.com

The company expects to earn between $1.75 and $1.80 for the full year, up from its March forecast of between $1.60 and $1.65.

Analysts were expecting full-year earnings of $1.66 a share.

Citi Trends earned $12.4 million, or 86 cents a share, compared with $7.9 million, or 54 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue jumped 27 percent to $181.4 million.

Analysts on average were looking for a profit of 67 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $168.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year grew 9.6 percent, compared with a 7.4 percent rise last year.

Shares of the Savannah, Georgia-based company closed at $33.38 Tuesday 18 May on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Vidya Lakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)