UPDATE 1-Kforce Q4 results beat Street, sees strong Q1 revenue

* Q4 EPS $0.09 vs est $0.08

* Revenue $224.6 mln vs est $219.6 mln

* Sees Q1 revenue $224 mln-$232 mln vs est $222.2 mln

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Staffing company Kforce Inc (KFRC.O) posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped in part by lower costs, and forecast first-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates.

The company also said it was aggressively pursuing business opportunities and that permanent placement, which accounted for 3 percent of 2009 revenue, was up 13 percent sequentially.

For the fourth quarter, Kforce posted net income was $3.5 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $107.9 million, or $2.81 a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 7 percent to $224.6 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 8 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $219.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter fell 7 percent to $60.6 million.

For the first quarter, the company forecast earnings of 4 cents to 7 cents a share on revenue of $224 million to $232 million.

Analysts were looking for earnings of 7 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $222.2 million.

Shares of the company were up at $14.37 in extended trade. They closed at $13.91 Tuesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by A.Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)