UPDATE 3-Inditex pleases with sales resilience

* Inditex Q1 net 184 million euros, just under forecast

* Sales in constant exchange rates up 9 pct May 1-June 7

* Analysts estimate like-for-like sales down 1-4 pct

* Shares rise on comments on first five weeks of Q2

(Adds comments and context)

By Sarah Morris MADRID, June 10 (Reuters) - Europe's largest clothes retailer Inditex (ITX.MC), owner of Zara, pleased the market on Wednesday with comments showing sales holding up better than rivals', despite a 15 percent fall in first-quarter net profit.

Inditex shares shot up 5.42 percent by 1124 GMT to 34.40 euros, near year highs reached in January, after it posted a 184 million euro ($259.6 million) profit.

Sales at constant exchange rates rose 9 percent in the period May 1 to June 7, Inditex said, after rising 8 percent in the quarter ending April 30 to 2.3 billion euros.

"Current trade is a touch better than it was in the (last) quarter so things are not getting any worse and that was probably the key piece of good news," Anne Critchlow, Societe Generale analyst, said.

The Spanish retailer has held up better than counterparts across the world as consumers have tightened their belts amid the downturn thanks to its focus on selling catwalk styles at knock-down prices.

Rivals Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST) and Gap Inc (GPS.N) have reported similar percentage falls to inditex's in quarterly net profit. In May, H&M said its April same store sales -- made up of store, internet and catalogue sales for at least one financial year -- rose 8 percent, the first rise since July 2008.

Gap saw a 12 percent fall in same-store sales during the first quarter.

Inditex's like-for-like sales -- which exclude the turnover boost from the retailers' aggressive expansion programme around the world -- are also suffering, say analysts.

Inditex did not give a like-for-like sales figure for the first quarter, but some analysts estimate those comparable sales have fallen by 1-4 percent on the year earlier.

In Inditex's home market Spain, which accounts for about a third of the company's sales, retail sales fell 7.5 percent year-on-year, the 17th consecutive monthly decline as fast-rising unemployment kept shoppers at home. [ID:nLT207979].

"SPECIAL PRICES" NOT DISCOUNTS

Asked on an analysts' conference call how its revenues in Spain were faring, Inditex said it would not comment on individual markets until the first half results.

The cash-rich retailer, which owns brands ranging from underwear label Oysho to teen brand Bershka, is driving growth with an aggressive programme of store openings outside Spain from Egypt to Colombia.

It is tightening costs amid the downturn as currency effects also hit profits, but has insisted it does not need to change its pricing policy in the face of discounting by competitors.

In March, Inditex's flagship label Zara started tagging some items with labels which said "Special Price", but a spokesman for the retailer said that did not amount to price reductions.

"We have never entered into promotions," he said. "This was a small collection and it was really a communication exercise. We were saying here you have a bargain, by pointing to some items which we were able to offer for extremely good prices for whatever reason."

At one Madrid store in a mall on Calle Serrano, strapless cotton summer dresses costing 16.95 euros were labelled with a red and black exclamation mark logo, as were 12.95 euro artist tunics made in India.

Across the mall, more upmarket Spanish retailer Adolfo Dominguez (ADZ.MC) advertised a 30 percent spring promotion.

The first-quarter results showed a fall in Inditex's gross margin by about 90 basis points.

"It does suggest they had to discount a little bit more than they would have liked, perhaps because sales were a bit disappointing versus their own expectations originally," said Critchlow.

However, Inditex told an analysts' call the fall was down to the effects of currencies.

"The like-for-like performance across the first quarter and the the first five weeks of the second is materially better than we anticipated, and continues to argue for Inditex's sharp outperformance of the Spanish clothing market," Citi said in a note to clients.

On Wednesday, Inditex was outperforming the DJ Stoxx European retail index .SXRP which was up 1.9 percent at 1124 GMT. (Reporting by Sarah Morris; Editing by David Cowell)