UPDATE 2-Select Comfort Q3 profit tops market view, shares up

* Q3 EPS 15 cents vs est 7 cents

* Q3 sales $147.5 mln vs est $134.4 mln

* Sees 2009 EPS $0.02 to $0.08 * Sees FY capex less than $4 mln

* Shares up 6 pct in after-market trade (Adds details; conference call, analyst comments)

By Vidya Lakshmi

BANGALORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Mattress maker Select Comfort Corp (SCSS.O) posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit helped by cost cuts, and forecast a surprise profit for the full year, sending its shares up 6 percent.

"We continue to limit out expenditures to only mission-critical projects, full year capital expenditure is projected at less than $4 million," a top company executive said on a conference call with analysts.

The company, which saw a 6 percent fall in sales, said it expects recent sales trends to continue into early 2010 with same-store growth being offset by reduction in retail store count.

The company, which runs about 400 stores, plans to close 6 stores by the end of the year.

"The company is benefiting from its reduction of stores, and from a strong re-capture rate of sales from stores it has closed," Keybanc Capital Markets analyst Bradley Thomas said by phone.

The company's risk of bankruptcy is essentially nil now, the analyst said.

Select Comfort, which sells its products under the Sleep Number bed and Select Comfort brands, forecast a full-year profit of 2 cents to 8 cents a share. Analysts had expected a full-year loss of 2 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For the third quarter, the company earned $6.8 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with $1.0 million, or 2 cents a share, a year ago.

Analysts were looking for a profit of 7 cents a share, excluding items.

Operating expenses fell 22 percent to $236.5 million.

The company, like other mattress makers, has been battling softer sales in its U.S markets as consumers cut down on discretionary spending.

Last week, rival Tempur-Pedic International Inc (TPX.N) had posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its outlook for the full year.

Shares of Minneapolis-based Select Comfort were up 6 percent at $6.12 in trading after the bell. They closed at $5.78 Thursday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Vidya Lakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Pradeep Kurup)