UPDATE 2-Heidrick & Struggles Q3 tops market; shares up

* Sees Q4 rev $103-$108 mln vs est $96.6 mln

* Q3 EPS $0.25 vs est $0.08

* Q3 total revenue down 35 pct

* Shares up as much as 14 pct to hit a new 52-wk high (Recasts, adds details, analyst's comments; updates share movement)

BANGALORE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Heidrick & Struggles International Inc (HSII.O) posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, mainly on lower expenses, and forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analysts' expectations, boosting its shares to a new 52-week high.

The company, which is one of the two publicly traded executive search firms in the United States, said revenue grew sequentially in all three of its operating regions and expects the positive trends to continue into the next year.

Demand for executive searches and talent consulting services had been declining since the begining of the economic slowdown, which forced many employers to cut jobs and others to hire fewer workers.

"Although year-over-year comparisons still reflect the impact of a worldwide economic downturn, there are increasing signs that we've seen the bottom of this historic recession," Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said in a statement.

Number of executive search confirmations increased 17 percent sequentially in the third quarter, the company said.

"Based on what they are currently seeing, it certainly seems like they are experiencing fairly broad improvement in terms of demand," Robert Baird's analyst Mark Marcon said.

The company has a lot of exposure to financial services, which seems to be rebounding in terms of hiring, he added.

For the fourth quarter, the company forecast revenue of $103 million to $108 million. Analysts on average were expecting $96.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Q3 BEATS MARKET

For the third quarter, the company reported earnings of $4.4 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with earnings of $14.0 million, or 80 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Total revenue fell about 35 percent to $108.3 million. Operating expenses declined about 30 percent.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 8 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $95.8 million.

Shares of the company were trading up $3 at $28.40 Tuesday afternoon on Nasdaq. They had touched a high of $29 earlier in the session. (Reporting by Amulya Nagaraj and Bijoy Koyitty in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott and Pradeep Kurup)