UPDATE 1-Dress Barn Q1 profit rises, boosts FY view

* Q1 EPS $0.33 vs $0.30 last year

* Q1 sales up 7 pct to $404.1 mln

* Ups 2010 EPS view to $1.20-$1.30

* Shares rise 5 pct after the bell

Nov 19 (Reuters) - Dress Barn Inc DBRN.O posted a higher quarterly profit, helped by strong sales at Maurices and its namesake stores, and raised its full-year earnings forecast, sending its shares up 5 percent.

The women's clothing retailer sees 2010 earnings-per-share of $1.20 to $1.30, up from its prior view of $1.10 to $1.20.

Dress Barn, which agreed to buy teen-apparel seller Tween Brands Inc TWB.N in June, said it expects to complete the merger by Nov. 25.

For the first quarter ended Oct. 24, Dress Barn's profit rose to $21.7 million, or 33 cents a share, from $19.7 million, or 30 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, Dress Barn earned 38 cents per share.

Net sales rose 7 percent to $404.1 million. Sales at its Maurices stores, which cater to twenty-somethings, rose 9 percent to $156.1 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 33 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $391.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the Suffern, New York-based company were trading at $21.52 after the bell. They closed at $20.52 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Mihir Dalal in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)