UPDATE 1-AmeriCredit posts surprise Q3 profit

* Q3 EPS $0.07 vs est loss $0.30/shr

* Q3 provision for loan losses down 6 pct

* Loan originations fall sharply

April 23 (Reuters) - AmeriCredit Corp (ACF.N) posted a surprise quarterly profit, helped by a fall in provision for bad loans and lower expenses.

For the quarter ended March 31, the company posted net income of $9.8 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with $38.2 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a loss of 30 cents a share, before items, according to Reuters Estimates.

Total expenses fell 18 percent to $475.7 million. Provision for loan losses dropped 6 percent.

Tighter lending conditions have forced the company to significantly scale down on its loan origination volumes, which have slumped to $210.1 million in the quarter, compared with $1.3 billion a year earlier.

Shares of the company closed at $9.09 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Archana Shankar in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)