UPDATE 2-Hewitt Q4 profit soars, sees 2010 EPS above Street

* Q4 EPS $0.68 vs $0.32 a year ago

* Revenue falls 6 pct

* Sees 2010 EPS $2.85-$2.95

* Shares rise 5 pct (Recasts; adds analyst comments, background, share movement)

By Divya Sharma

BANGALORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Human-resource services company Hewitt Associates Inc's HEW.N quarterly profit more than doubled, helped by lower operating expenses, and it forecast 2010 earnings above market estimates, sending its shares up to a 14-month high.

Hewitt said it sees low- to mid-single digit net revenue growth in 2010, with solid growth in consulting and a flat performance in benefits outsourcing.

"The consulting business will be helped by currency benefits and continued steady growth in their core retirement and financial management practice area," William Blair & Co analyst Timothy McHugh said.

The impact of unemployment and pricing pressure on Hewitt's benefits outsourcing segment -- which accounts for about half of its revenue -- should be offset by some recent contract wins that will benefit the company late in 2010, the analyst said.

The company, however, expects its HR business process outsourcing segment, which is being restructured, to decline in 2010 partly due to client losses and liquidations.

The company sees 2010 earnings of $2.85 to $2.95 a share. Analysts were looking for earnings of $2.84 a share, excluding items, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"While we are seeing some positive signs in terms of customer demand, our guidance is not dependent on a meaningful recovery," Chief Executive Russ Fradin said in a statement.

For the fourth quarter, net income was $64.4 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with $31.6 million, or 32 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue for the company fell 6 percent to $757.7 million, while operating expenses fell 13 percent in the quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 63 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $754 million.

Shares of the company were up 4 percent at $39.92 Tuesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched a high of $40.12 earlier. (Reporting by Divya Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Pradeep Kurup)